ECONOMISTS* 


• 


1ATIONISTS, 


A  PERFECTIONISTS. 


ICARIA: 
BETHEL, 
AURORA. 

AND  OTHER  COM. 


BANCROFT    LIBRARY 


VIEWS  IN  ZOAU. 


THE  COMMUNISTIC  SOCIETIES 


OP 


THE  UNITED  STATES; 


FROM  PERSONAL  VISIT  AND  OBSERVATION: 


INCLUDING  DETAILED  ACCOUNTS  OF  THE 

ECONOMISTS,  ZOARITES,  SHAKERS,  THE  AMANA,  ONEIDA,  BETHEL, 

AURORA,  ICARIAN,  AND  OTHER  EXISTING  SOCIETIES,  THEIR 

RELIGIOUS  CREEDS,  SOCIAL  PRACTICES,  NUMBERS, 

INDUSTRIES,  AND  PRESENT  CONDITION. 


BY  CHARLES  NORDHOFF, 

AUTHOR  OF 

NORTHERN  CALIFORNIA,  OREGON,  AND  THE  SANDWICH  ISLANDS,"  "CALIFORNIA: 
FOR    HEALTH,    PLEASURE,    AND    RESIDENCE,"  ETC. 


JHhistrations. 


NEW    YORK: 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN     SQUARE. 

1875. 


\\7U 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 


Page 

INTRODUCTION 1 1 

SUBJECTS  OP  THE  INQUIRY 11 

THE  CONDITION  AND  NECESSITIES  OP  LABOR 15 

MISTAKE  OF  THE  TRADES-UNIONS 17 

REASONS  FOR  rr * 18 

LABOR  SOCIETIES,  AS  AT  PRESENT  MANAGED,  MISCHIEVOUS 21 

THE   AMANA    SOCIETY , 25 

ITS  HISTORY  AND  ORIGIN  26 

AMANA  IN  1874 31 

SOCIAL  HABITS  AND  CUSTOMS 32 

RELIGION  AND  LITERATURE 43 

THE  HARMONISTS  AT  ECONOMY ... 63 

ECONOMY  IN  1874 65 

HISTORY  OF  THE  HARMONY  SOCIETY 69 

ITS  RELIGIOUS  CREED 85 

PRACTICAL  LIFE 81 

SOME  PARTICULARS  OF  "  FATHER  RAPP  " 91 

THE  SEPARATISTS  OF  ZOAR 99 

ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY 99 

THEIR  RELIGIOUS  FAITH 103 

PRACTICAL  LIFE  AND  PRESENT  CONDITION 1 10 

THE  SHAKERS 117 

"  MOTHER  ANN  ". 118 

THE  ORDER  OF  LIFE  AMONG  THE  SHAKERS 135 

A  VISIT  TO  MOUNT  LEBANON 151 

DETAILS  OF  ALL  THE  SHAKER  SOCIETIES 179 

SHAKER  LITERATURE 214 

"SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATIONS"..                                                 .  232 


viii  Contents. 


Page 

THE  ONEIDA  AND  WALLINGFORD  PERFECTIONISTS 259 

ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY : 259 

THEIR  RELIGIOUS  BELIEF 268 

DAILY  LIFE  AND  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 277 

SUNDAY  AT  ONEIDA 287 

" CRITICISM"  AND  " PRAYER-CURES " 293 

THE  AURORA  AND  BETHEL  COMMUNES 305 

AURORA  IN  OREGON 305 

BETHEL  IN  MISSOURI 324 

THEIR  HISTORY  AND  RELIGIOUS  FAITH 329 

THE  ICARIANS 333 

THE  BISHOP  HILL  COLONY 343 

ITS  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY 344 

CAUSES  OF  ITS  FAILURE 349 

THE  CEDAR  VALE  COMMUNE 353 

THE  SOCIAL  FREEDOM  COMMUNITY 357 

THREE  COLONIES— NOT  COMMUNISTIC 361 

ANAHEIM,  IN  CALIFORNIA 361 

VlNELAND,  IN  NEW  JERSEY ' 366 

SILKVILLE  PRAIRIE  HOME,  IN  KANSAS 375 

COMPARATIVE  VIEW  AND  REVIEW 385 

STATISTICAL 385 

COMMUNAL  POLITICS  AND  POLITICAL  ECONOMY 392 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  PEOPLE 399 

INFLUENCES  OF  COMMUNISTIC  LIFE 406 

CONDITIONS  AND  POSSIBILITIES  OF  COMMUNISTIC  LIVING 409 

BIBLIOGRAPHY.... 431 

INDEX .  435 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


VIEWS  IN  ZOAR Frontispiece. 

MAP  SHOWING  LOCATION  OP  COMMUNISTIC  SOCIETIES To  face  p.  22 

GBACE  BEFORE  MEAT — AMANA ; "          28 

SCHOOL-HOUSE — AMANA. '•         28 

AMANA,  A  GENERAL  VIEW u         40 

CHURCH  AT  AMANA "         54 

INTERIOR  VIEW  OF  CHURCH - "         54 

PLAN  OF  THE  INSPIRATIONIST  VILLAGES "         54 

ASSEMBLY  HALL— ECONOMY "         64 

CHURCH  AT  ECONOMY. "         64 

A  STREET  VIEW  IN  ECONOMY "         88 

FATHER  RAPP'S  HOUSE — ECONOMY 4i         88 

CHURCH  AT  ZOAR "        108 

SCHOOL-HOUSE  AT  ZOAR *•       108 

A  GROUP  OF  SHAKERS u        118 

THE  FIRST  SHAKER  CHURCH,  AT  MOUNT  LEBANON  130 

SHAKER  ARCHITECTURE — MOUNT  LEBANON "       134 

SHAKER  ARCHITECTURE — ENFEELD,  N.  H ...      u       134 

SHAKER  WOMEN  AT  WORK 137 

SHAKER  COSTUMES 141 

SHAKER  WORSHIP.— THE  DANCE 144 

SISTERS  IN  EVERY-DAY  COSTUME 150 

ELDER  FREDERICK  W.  EVANS lk       153 

VIEW  OF  A  SHAKER  VILLAGE 154 

THE  HERB-HOUSE — MOUNT  LEBANON 155 

MEETING-HOUSE  AT  MOUNT  LEBANON..  .  156 


io  List  of  Illustrations. 

Page 

INTERIOR  OF  MEETING-HOUSE  AT  MOUNT  LEBANON 157 

SHAKER  TANNERY — MOUNT  LEBANON 161 

SHAKER  OFFICE  AND  STORE  AT  MOUNT  LEBANON 162 

A  SHAKER  ELDER, 165 

A  GROUP  OF  SHAKER  CHILDREN. To  face  p.  166 

SHAKER  DINING-HALL "  166 

A  SHAKER  SCHOOL "  214 

SHAKER  MUSIC-HALL "  214 

J.  H.  NOTES,  FOUNDER  OF  THE  PERFECTIONISTS "  260 

COSTUMES  AT  ONEIDA "  282 

THE  BETHEL  COMMUNE,  MISSOURI "  324 

CHURCH  AT  BETHEL,  MISSOURI "  328 


INTRODUCTION. 


THOUGH  it  is  probable  that  for  a  long  time  to  come  the 
mass  of  mankind  in  civilized  countries  will  find  it  both  nec- 
essary and  advantageous  to  labor  for  wages,  and  to  accept  the 
condition  of  hired  laborers  (or,  as  it  has  absurdly  become  the 
fashion  to  say,  employes),  every  thoughtful  and  kind-hearted 
person  must  regard  with  interest  any  device  or  plan  which 
promises  to  enable  at  least  the  more  intelligent,  enterprising, 
and  determined  part  of  those  who  are  not  capitalists  to  be- 
come such,  and  to  cease  to  labor  for  hire. 

Nor  can  any  one  doubt  the  great  importance,  both  to  the 
security  of  the  capitalists,  and  to  the  intelligence  and  happiness 
of  the  non-capitalists  (if  I  may  use  so  awkward  a  word),  of  in- 
creasing the  number  of  avenues  to  independence  for  the  latter. 
For  the  character  and  conduct  of  our  own  population  in  the 
United  States  show  conclusively  that  nothing  so  stimulates 
intelligence  in  the  poor,  and  at  the  same  time  nothing  so  well 
enables  them  to  bear  the  inconveniences  of  their  lot,  as  a  rea- 
sonable prospect  that  with  industry  and  economy  they  may 
raise  themselves  out  of  the  condition  of  hired  laborers  into 
that  of  independent  employers  of  their  own  labor.  Take  away 
entirely  the  grounds  of  such  a  hope,  and  a  great  mass  of  our 
poorer  people  would  gradually  sink  into  stupidity,  and  a  blind 
discontent  which  education  would  only  increase,  until  they  be- 
came a  danger  to  the  state ;  for  the  greater  their  intelligence, 
the  greater  would  be  the  dissatisfaction  with  their  situation- 
just  as  we  see  that  the  dissemination  of  education  among  the 


1 2      Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

English  agricultural  laborers  (by  whom,  of  all  classes  in  Chris- 
tendom, independence  is  least  to  be  hoped  for),  has  lately 
aroused  these  sluggish  beings  to  strikes  and  a  struggle  for  a 
change  in  their  condition. 

Hitherto,  in  the  United  States,  our  cheap  and  fertile  lands 
have  acted  as  an  important  safety-valve  for  the  enterprise  and 
discontent  of  our  non-capitalist  population.  Every  hired  work- 
man knows  that  if  he  chooses  to  use  economy  and  industry  in 
his  calling,  he  may  without  great  or  insurmountable  difficulty 
establish  himself  in  independence  on  the  public  lands;  and, 
in  fact,  a  large  proportion  of  our  most  energetic  and  intelli- 
gent mechanics  do  constantly  seek  these  lands,  where  with  pa- 
tient toil  they  master  nature  and  adverse  circumstances,  often 
make  fortunate  and  honorable  careers,  and  at  the  worst  leave 
their  children  in  an  improved  condition  of  life.  I  do  not 
doubt  that  the  eagerness  of  some  of  our  wisest  public  men  for 
the  acquisition  of  new  territory  has  arisen  from  their  convic- 
tion that  this  opening  for  the  independence  of  laboring  men 
was  essential  to  the  security  of  our  future  as  a  free  and  peace- 
ful state.  For,  though  not  one  in  a  hundred,  or  even  one  in  a 
thousand  of  our  poorer  and  so-called  laboring  class  may  choose 
to  actually  achieve  independence  by  taking  up  and  tilling  a 
portion  of  the  public  lands,  it  is  plain  that  the  knowledge  that 
any  one  may  do  so  makes  those  who  do  not  more  contented 
with  their  lot,  which  they  thus  feel  to  be  one  of  choice  and  not 
of  compulsion. 

Any  circumstance,  as  the  exhaustion  of  these  lands,  which 
should  materially  impair  this  opportunity  for  independence, 
would  be,  I  believe,  a  serious  calamity  to  our  country ;  and  the 
spirit  of  the  Trades-Unions  and  International  Societies  appears 
to  me  peculiarly  mischievous  and  hateful,  because  they  seek  to 
eliminate  f  rom  the  thoughts  of  their  adherents  the  hope  or  ex- 
pectation of  independence.  The  member  of  a  Trades-Union 
is  taught  to  regard  himself,  and  to  act  toward  society,  as  a 


Introduction.  1 3 


hireling  for  life ;  and  these  societies  are  united,  not  as  men 
seeking  a  way  to  exchange  dependence  for  independence,  but 
as  hirelings,  determined  to  remain  such,  and  only  demanding 
better  conditions  of  their  masters.  If  it  were  possible  to  in- 
fuse with  this  spirit  all  or  the  greater  part  of  the  non-capitalist 
class  in  the  United  States,  this  would,  I  believe,  be  one  of  the 
gravest  calamities  which  could  befall  us  as  a  nation ;  for  it 
would  degrade  the  mass  of  our  voters,  and  make  free  govern- 
ment here  very  difficult,  if  it  did  not  entirely  change  the  form 
of  our  government,  and  expose  us  to  lasting  disorders  and  at- 
tacks upon  property. 

We  see  already  that  in  whatever  part  of  our  country  the 
Trades-Union  leaders  have  succeeded  in  imposing  themselves 
upon  mining  or  manufacturing  operatives,  the  results  are — the 
corruption  of  our  politics,  a  lowering  of  the  standard  of  intel- 
ligence and  independence  among  the  laborers,  and  an  unrea- 
soning and  unreasonable  discontent,  which,  in  its  extreme  de- 
velopment, despises  right,  and  seeks  only  changes  degrading 
to  its  own  class,  at  the  cost  of  injury  and  loss  to  the  general 
public. 

The  Trades-Unions  and  International  Clubs  have  become  a 
formidable  power  in  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  but 
so  far  it  is  a  power  almost  entirely  for  evil.  They  have  been 
able  to  disorganize  labor,  and  to  alarm  capital.  They  have 
succeeded,  in  a  comparatively  few  cases,  in  temporarily  in- 
creasing the  wages  and  in  diminishing  the  hours  of  labor  in 
certain  branches  of  industry — a  benefit  so  limited,  both  as  to 
duration  and  amount,  that  it  can  not  justly  be  said  to  have  inured 
to  the  general  advantage  of  the  non-capitalist  class.  On  the 
other  hand,  they  have  debased  the  character  and  lowered  the 
moral  tone  of  their  membership  by  the  narrow  and  cold-blood- 
ed selfishness  of  their  spirit  and  doctrines,  and  have  thus  done 
an  incalculable  harm  to  society ;  and,  moreover,  they  have,  by 
alarming  capital,  lessened  the  wages  fund,  seriously  checked 


14      Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

enterprise,  and  thus  decreased  the  general  prosperity  of  their 
own  class.  For  it  is  plain  that  to  no  one  in  society  is  the 
abundance  of  capital  and  its  free  and  secure  use  in  all  kinds 
of  enterprises  so  vitally  important  as  to  the  laborer  for  wages 
— to  the  Trades-Unionist. 

To  assert  necessary  and  eternal  enmity  between  labor  and 
capital  would  seem  to  be  the  extreme  of  folly  in  men  who 
have  predetermined  to  remain  laborers  for  wages  all  their  lives, 
and  who  therefore  mean  to  be  peculiarly  dependent  on  cap- 
ital. Nor  are  the  Unions  wiser  or  more  reasonable  toward 
their  fellow-laborers ;  for  each  Union  aims,  by  limiting  the 
number  of  apprentices  a  master  may  take,  and  by  other  equally 
selfish  regulations,  to  protect  its  own  members  against  compe- 
tition, forgetting  apparently  that  if  you  prevent  men  from  be- 
coming bricklayers,  a  greater  number  must  seek  to  become  car- 
penters ;  and  that  thus,  by  its  exclusive  policy,  a  Union  only 
plays  what  Western  gamblers  call  a  "  cut-throat  game  "  with 
the  general  laboring  population.  For  if  the  system  of  Unions 
were  perfect,  and  each  were  able  to  enforce  its  policy  of  ex- 
clusion, a  great  mass  of  poor  creatures,  driven  from  every  de- 
sirable employment,  would  be  forced  to  crowd  into  the  lowest 
and  least  paid.  I  do  not  know  where  one  could  find  so  much 
ignorance,  contempt  for  established  principles,  and  cold-blood- 
ed selfishness,  as  among  the  Trades-Unions  and  International 
Societies  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain— unless  one 
should  go  to  France.  While  they  retain  their  present  spirit, 
they  might  well  take  as  their  motto  the  brutal  and  stupid  say- 
ing of  a  French  writer,  that  "  Mankind  are  engaged  in  a  war 
for  bread,  in  which  every  man's  hand  is  at  his  brother's  throat." 
Directly,  they  offer  a  prize  to  incapacity  and  robbery,  compel- 
ling their  ablest  members  to  do  no.  more  than  the  least  able, 
and  spoiling  the  aggregate  wealth  of  society  by  burdensome 
regulations  restricting  labor.  Logically,  to  the  Trades-Union 
leaders  the  Chicago  or  Boston  fire  seemed  a  more  beneficial 


Introduction.  1 5 


event  than  the  invention  of  the  steam-engine ;  for  plenty  seems 
to  them  a  curse,  and  scarcity  the  greatest  blessing.* 

*  Lest  I  should  to  some  readers  appear  to  use  too  strong  language,  I 
append  here  a  few  passages  from  a  recent  English  work,  Mr.  Thornton's 
book  "  On  Labor,"  where  he  gives  an  account  of  some  of  the  regulations 
of  English  Trades-Unions : 

"  A  journeyman  is  not  permitted  to  teach  his  own  son  his  own  trade, 
nor,  if  the  lad  managed  to  learn  the  trade  by  stealth,  would  he  be  per- 
mitted to  practice  it.  A  master,  desiring  out  of  charity  to  take  as  ap- 
prentice one  of  the  eight  destitute  orphans  of  a  widowed  mother,  has  been 
told  by  his  men  that  if  he  did  they  would  strike.  A  bricklayer's  assist- 
ant who  by  looking  on  has  learned  to  lay  bricks  as  well  as  his  principal, 
is  generally  doomed,  nevertheless,  to  continue  a  laborer  for  life.  He  will 
never  rise  to  the  rank  of  a  bricklayer,  if  those  who  have  already  attained 
that  dignity  can  help  it." 

"  Some  Unions  divide  the  country  round  them  into  districts,  and  will 
not  permit  the  products  of  the  trades  controlled  by  them  to  be  used  ex- 
cept within  the  district  in  which  they  have  been  fabricated.  .  .  .  At  Man- 
chester this  combination  is  particularly  effective,  preventing  any  bricks 
made  beyond  a  radius  of  four  miles  from  entering  the  city.  To  enforce 
the  exclusion,  paid  agents  are  employed ;  every  cart  of  bricks  corning  to- 
ward Manchester  is  watched,  and  if  the  contents  be  found  to  have  come 
from  without  the  prescribed  boundary  the  bricklayers  at  once  refuse  to 
work.  .  .  .  The  vagaries  of  the  Lancashire  brickmakers  are  fairly  paral- 
leled by  the  masons  of  the  sanie  county.  Stone,  when  freshly  quarried,  is 
softer,  and  can  be  more  easily  cut  than  later :  men  habitually  employed 
about  any  particular  quarry  better  understand  the  working  of  its  partic- 
ular stone  than  men  from  a  distance ;  there  is  great  economy,  too,  in  trans- 
porting stone  dressed  instead  of  in  rough  blocks.  The  Yorkshire  masons, 
however,  will  not  allow  Yorkshire  stone  to  be  brought  into  their  district 
if  worked  on  more  than  one  side.  All  the  rest  of  the  working,  the  edg- 
ing and  jointing,  they  insist  on  doing  themselves,  though  they  thereby 
add  thirty-five  per  cent,  to  its  price.  ...  A  Bradford  contractor,  requiring 
for  a  staircase  some  steps  of  hard  delf-stone,  a  material  which  Bradford 
masons  so  much  dislike  that  they  often  refuse  employment  rather  than 
undertake  it,  got  the  steps  worked  at  the  quarry.  But  when  they  arrived 
ready  for  setting,  his  masons  insisted  on  their  being  worked  over  again, 
at  an  expense  of  from  5s.  to  10s.  per  step.  A  master-mason  at  Ashton  ob- 
tained some  stone  ready  polished  from  a  quarry  near  Macclesfield.  His 
men,  however,  in  obedience  to  the  rules  of  their  club,  refused  to  fix  it  un- 
til the  polished  part  had  been  defaced  and  they  had  polished  it  again  by 
hand,  though  not  so  well  as  at  first.  ...  In  one  or  two  of  the  northern 
counties,  the  associated  plasterers  and  associated  plasterers'  laborers  have 
come  to  an  understanding,  according  to  which  the  latter  are  to  abstain 
from  all  plasterers'  work  except  simple  whitewashing ;  and  the  plasterers 
in  return  are  to  do  nothing  except  pure  plasterers'  work,  that  the  labor- 
ers would  like  to  do  for  them,  insomuch  that  if  a  plasterer  wants  laths  or 
plaster  to  go  on  with,  he  must  not  go  and  fetch  them  himself,  but  must 
send  a  laborer  for  them.  In  consequence  of  this  agreement,  a  Mr.  Booth, 
of  Bolton,  having  sent  one  of  his  plasterers  to  bed  and  point  a  dozen  win- 
dows, had  to  place  a  laborer  with  him  during  the  whole  of  the  four  days 
he  was  engaged  on  the  job,  though  any  body  could  have  brought  him  all 


1 6       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Any  organization  which  teaches  its  adherents  to  accept  as 
inevitable  for  themselves  and  for  the  mass  of  a  nation  the 
condition  of  hirelings,  and  to  conduct  their  lives  on  that  pre- 
mise, is  not  only  wrong,  but  an  injury  to  the  community.  Mr. 
Mill  wisely  says  on  this  point,  in  his  chapter  on  "  The  Future 
of  the  Laboring  Classes :"  "  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
status  of  hired  laborers  will  gradually  tend  to  confine  itself  to 
the  description  of  work-people  whose  low  moral  qualities  ren- 
der them  unfit  for  any  thing  more  independent ;  and  that  the 
relation  of  masters  and  work-people  will  be  gradually  super- 
seded by  partnership  in  one  of  two  forms :  in  some  cases,  as- 
sociation of  the  laborers  with  the  capitalist ;  in  others,  and  per- 
haps finally  in  all,  association  of  laborers  among  themselves." 
I  imagine  that  the  change  he  speaks  of  will  be  very  slow  and 
gradual ;  but  it  is  important  that  all  doors  shall  be  left  open 
for  it,  and  Trades-Unions  would  close  every  door. 

Professor  Cairnes,  in  his  recent  contribution  to  Political 
Economy,  goes  further  even  than  Mr.  Mill,  and  argues  that  a 
change  of  this  nature  is  inevitable.  He  remarks :  "  The  modi- 
fications which  occur  in  the  distribution  of  capital  among  its 
several  departments,  as  nations  advance,  are  by  no  means  for- 
tuitous, but  follow  on  the  whole  a  well-defined  course,  and 
move  toward  a  determinate  goal.  In  effect,  what  we  find  is  a 
constant  growth  of  the  national  capital,  accompanied  with  a 
nearly  equally  constant  decline  in  the  proportion  of  this  cap- 
ital which  goes  to  support  productive  labor.  .  .  .  Though  the 
fund  for  the  remuneration  of  mere  labor,  whether  skilled  or 
unskilled,  must,  so  long  as  industry  is  progressive,  ever  bear  a 

he  required  in  half  a  day.  ...  At  Liverpool,  a  bricklayer's  laborer  may 
legally  carry  as  many  as  twelve  bricks  at  a  time.  Elsewhere  ten  is  the 
greatest  number  allowed.  But  at  Leeds  '  any  brother  in  the  Union  pro- 
fessing to  carry  more  than  the  common  number,  which  is  eight  bricks, 
<hull  be  fined  1«. ;'  and  any  brother  'knowing  the  same  without  giving 
the  earliest  information  thereof  to  the  committee  of  management  shall  bo 
fined  the  same.'  .  .  .  During  the  building  of  the  Manchester  Law  Courts, 
the  bricklayers'  laborers  struck  because  they  were  desired  to  wheel  bricks 
instead  of  carrying  them  on  their  shoulders." 


Introduction.  1 7 


constantly  diminishing  proportion  alike  to  the  growing  wealth 
and  growing  capital,  there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  things 
which  restricts  the  laboring  population  to  this  fund  for  their 
support.  In  return,  indeed,  for  their  mere  labor,  it  is  to  this 
that  they  must  look  for  their'  sole  reward ;  but  they  may  help 
production  otherwise  than  ly  their  labor:  they  may  save, 
and  thus  become  themselves  the  owners  of  capital;  and  profits 
may  thus  be  brought  to  aid  the  wages-fund."* 

Aside  from  systematized  emigration  to  unsettled  or  thinly 
peopled  regions,  which  the  Trades-Unions  of  Europe  ought  to 
organize  on  a  great  scale,  but  which  .they  have  entirely  neglect- 
ed, the  other  outlets  for  the  mass  of  dissatisfied  hand-laborers 
lie  through  co-operative  or  communistic  efforts.  Co-operative 
societies  flourish  in  England  and  Germany.  We  have  had  a 
number  of  them  in  this  country  also,  but  their  success  has  not 
been  marked ;  and  I  have  found  it  impossible  to  get  statistical 
returns  even  of  their  numbers.  If  the  Trades-Unions  had  used 
a  tenth  of  the  money  they  have  wasted  in  futile  efforts  to  short- 
en hours  of  labor  and  excite  their  members  to  hatred,  indolence, 
and  waste,  in  making  public  the  statistics  and  the  possibilities 
of  co-operation,  they  would  have  achieved  some  positive  good. 

But  while  co-operative  efforts  have  generally  failed  in  the 
United  States,  we  have  here  a  number  of  successful  Commu- 
nistic Societies,  pursuing  agriculture  and  different  branches  of 
manufacturing,  and  I  have  thought  it  useful  to  examine  these,  to 
see  if  their  experience  offers  any  useful  hints  toward  the  solu- 
tion of  the  labor  question.  Hitherto  very  little,  indeed  almost 
nothing  definite  and  precise,  has  been  made  known  concern- 
ing these  societies ;  and  Communism  remains  loudly  but  very 
vaguely  spoken  of,  by  friends  as  well  as  enemies,  and  is  com- 
monly a  word  either  of  terror  or  of  contempt  in  the  public  prints. 


*  "  Some  Leading  Principles  of  Political  Economy  newly  expounded." 
By  J.  E.  Cairnes,  M. A.     New  York,  Harper  &  Brothers. 

B 


1 8       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

In  the  following  pages  will  be  found,  accordingly,  an  ac- 
count of  the  COMMUNISTIC  SOCIETIES  now  existing  in  the  United 
States,  made  from  personal  visit  and  careful  examination  ;  and 
including  for  each  its  social  customs  and  expedients ;  its  prac- 
tical and  business  methods ;  its  system  of  government ;  the  in- 
dustries it  pursues;  its  religious  creed  and  practices;  as  well 
as  its  present  numbers  and  condition,  and  its  history. 

It  appears  to  me  an  important  fact  that  these  societies,  com- 
posed for  the  most  part  of  men  originally  farmers  or  mechan- 
ics— people  of  very  limited  means  and  education — have  yet  suc- 
ceeded in  accumulating  considerable  wealth,  and  at  any  rate  a 
satisfactory  provision  for  their  own  old  age  and  disability,  and 
for  the  education  of  their  children  or  successors.  In  every 
case  they  have  developed  among  their  membership  very  re- 
markable business  ability,  considering  their  original  station  in 
life ;  they  have  found  among  themselves  leaders  wise  enough 
to  rule,  and  skill  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  establish  and  car- 
ry on,  not  merely  agricultural  operations,  but  also  manufact- 
ures, and  to  conduct  successfully  complicated  business  affairs. 

Some  of  these  societies  have  existed  fifty,  some  twenty-five, 
and  some  for  nearly  eighty  years.  All  began  with  small 
means ;  and  some  are  now  very  wealthy. 

Moreover,  while  some  of  these  communes  are  still  living 
under  the  guidance  of  their  founders,  others,  equally  success- 
ful, have  continued  to  prosper  for  many  years  after  the  death 
of  their  original  leaders.  Some  are  celibate ;  but  others  in- 
culcate, or  at  least  permit  marriage.  Some  gather  their  mem- 
bers into  a  common  or  "unitary"  dwelling;  but  others,  with 
no  less  success,  maintain  the  family  relation  and  the  separate 
household. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  the  conditions  of  success  vary  sufficient- 
ly among  these  societies  to  make  their  histories  at  least  inter- 
esting, and  perhaps  important.  I  was  curious,  too,  to  ascertain 
if  their  success  depended  upon  obscure  conditions,  not  gener- 


Introduction.  1 9 


ally  attainable,  as  extraordinary  ability  in  a  leader ;  or  unde- 
sirable, as  religious  fanaticism  or  an  unnatural  relation  of  the 
sexes ;  or  whether  it  might  not  appear  that  the  conditions  ab- 
solutely necessary  to  success  were  only  such  as  any  company 
of  carefully  selected  and  reasonably  determined  men  and 
women  might  hope  to  command. 

I  desired  also  to  discover  how  the  successful  Communists 
had  met  and  overcome  the  difficulties  of  idleness,  selfishness, 
and  uuthrift  in  individuals,  which  are  commonly  believed  to 
make  Communism  impossible,  and  which  are  well  summed 
up  in  the  following  passage  in  Mr.  Mill's  chapter  on  Com- 
munism : 

"The  objection  ordinarily  made  to  a  system  of  community  of  property 
and  equal  distribution  of  the  produce,  that  each  person  would  be  inces- 
santly occupied  in  evading  his  fair  share  of  the  work,  points,  undoubt- 
edly, to  a  real  difficulty.  But  those  who  urge  this  objection  forget  to 
how  great  an  extent  the  same  difficulty  exists  under  the  system  on  which 
nine  tenths  of  the  business  of  society  is  now  conducted.  The  objection 
supposes  that  honest  and  efficient  labor  is  only  to  be  had  from  those  who 
are  themselves  individually  to  reap  the  benefit  of  their  own  exertions. 
But  how  small  a  part  of  all  the  labor  performed  in  England,  from  the 
lowest  paid  to  the  highest,  is  done  by  persons  working  for  their  own 
benefit.  From  the  Irish  reaper  or  hodman  to  the  chief  justice  or  the 
minister  of  state,  nearly  all  the  work  of  society  is  remunerated  by  day 
wages  or  fixed  salaries.  A  factory  operative  has  less  personal  interest  in 
his  work  than  a  member  of  a  Communist  association,  since  he  is  not,  like 
him,  working  for  a  partnership  of  which  he  is  himself  a  member.  It  will 
no  doubt  be  said  that,  though  the  laborers  themselves  have  not,  in  most 
cases,  a  personal  interest  in  their  work,  they  are  watched  and  superin- 
tended, and  their  labor  directed,  and  the  mental  part  of  the  labor  per- 
formed, by  persons  who  have.  Even  this,  however,  is  far  from  being  uni- 
versally the  fact.  In  all  public,  and  many  of  the  largest  and  most  suc- 
cessful private  undertakings,  not  only  the  labors  of  detail,  but  the  control 
and  superintendence  are  intrusted  to  salaried  officers.  And  though  the 
*  master's  eye,'  when  the  master  is  vigilant  and  intelligent,  is  of  proverbial 
value,  it  must  be  remembered  that  in  a  Socialist  farm  or  manufactory, 
each  laborer  would  be  under  the  eye,  not  of  one  master,  but  of  the  whole 


2O       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

community.  In  the  extreme  case  of  obstinate  perseverance  in  not  perform- 
ing the  due  share  of  work,  the  community  would  have  the  same  resources 
which  society  now  has  for  compelling  conformity  to  the  necessary  con- 
ditions of  the  association.  Dismissal,  the  only  remedy  at  present,  is  no 
remedy  when  any  other  laborer  who  may  be  engaged  does  no  better  than 
his  predecessor :  the  power  of  dismissal  only  enables  an  employer  to  ob- 
tain from  his  workmen  the  customary  amount  of  labor,  but  that  cus- 
tomary labor  may  be  of  any  degree  of  inefficiency.  Even  the  laborer 
who  loses  his  employment  by  idleness  or  negligence  has  nothing  worse 
to  suffer,  in  the  most  unfavorable  case,  tfcan  the  discipline  of  a  work- 
house, and  if  the  desire  to  avoid  this  be  a  sufficient  motive  in  the  one 
system,  it  would  be  sufficient  in  the  other.  I  am  not  undervaluing  the 
strength  of  the  incitement  given  to  labor  when  the  whole  or  a  large  share 
of  the  benefit  of  extra  exertion  belongs  to  the  laborer.  But  under  the 
present  system  of  industry  this  incitement,  in  the  great  majority  of  cases, 
does  not  exist.  If  communistic  labor  might  be  less  vigorous  than  that 
of  a  peasant  proprietor,  or  a  workman  laboring  on  his  own  account,  it 
would  probably  be  more  energetic  than  that  of  a  laborer  for  hire,  who 
has  no  personal  interest  in  the  matter  at  all.  The  neglect  by  the  unedu- 
cated classes  of  laborers  for  hire  of  the  duties  which  they  engage  to  per- 
form is  in  the  present  state  of  society  most  flagrant.  Now  it  is  an  ad- 
mitted condition  of  the  communist  scheme  that  all  shall  be  educated ; 
and  this  being  supposed,  the  duties  of  the  members  of  the  association 
would  doubtless  be  as  diligently  performed  as  those  of  the  generality  of 
salaried  officers  in  the  middle  or  higher  classes ;  who  are  not  supposed  to 
be  necessarily  unfaithful  to  their  trust,  because  so  long  as  they  are  not 
dismissed  their  pay  is  the  same  in  however  lax  a  manner  their  duty  is 
fulfilled.  Undoubtedly,  as  a  general  rule,  remuneration  by  fixed  salaries 
does  not  in  any  class  of  functionaries  produce  the  maximum  of  zeal ;  and 
this  is  as  much  as  can  be  reasonably  alleged  against  communistic  labor. 

"  That  even  this  inferiority  would  necessarily  exist  is  by  no  means  so 
certain  as  is  assumed  by  those  who  are  little  used  to  carry  their  minds 
beyond  the  state  of  things  with  which  they  are  familiar.  .  .  . 

"  Another  of  the  objections  to  Communism  is  similar  to  that  so  often 
urged  against  poor-laws :  that  if  every  member  of  the  community  were 
assured  of  subsistence  for  himself  and  any  number  of  children,  on  the 
sole  condition  of  willingness  to  work,  prudential  restraint  on  the  multi- 
plication of  mankind  would  be  at  an  end,  and  population  would  start 
forward  at  a  rate  which  would  reduce  the  community  through  successive 


Introduction.  2 1 


stages  of  increasing  discomfort  to  actual  starvation.  There  would  cer- 
tainly be  much  ground  for  this  apprehension  if  Communism  provided  no 
motives  to  restraint,  equivalent  to  those  which  it  would  take  away.  But 
Communism  is  precisely  the  state  of  things  in  which  opinion  might  be 
expected  to  declare  itself  with  greatest  intensity  against  this  kind  of 
selfish  intemperance.  Any  augmentation  of  numbers  which  diminished 
the  comfort  or  increased  the  toil  of  the  mass  would  then  cause  (which 
now  it  does  not)  immediate  and  unmistakable  inconvenience  to  every  in- 
dividual in  the  association — inconvenience  which  could  not  then  be  im- 
puted to  the  avarice  of  employers  or  the  unjust  privileges  of  the  rich. 
In  such  altered  circumstances  opinion  could  not  fail  to  reprobate,  and  if 
reprobation  did  not  suffice,  to  repress  by  penalties  of  some  description, 
this  or  any  other  culpable  self-indulgence  at  the  expense  of  the  commu- 
nity. The  communistic  scheme,  instead  -of  being  peculiarly  open  to  the 
objection  drawn  from  danger  of  over-population,  has  the  recommenda- 
tion of  tending  in  an  especial  degree  to  the  prevention  of  that  evil." 

It  will  be  seen  in  the  following  pages  that  means  have  been 
found  to  meet  these  and  other  difficulties ;  in  one  society  even 
the  prudential  restraint  upon  marriage  has  been  adopted. 

Finally,  I  wished  to  see  what  the  successful  Communists  had 
made  of  their  lives ;  what  was  the  effect  of  communal  living 
upon  the  character  of  the  individual  man  and  woman ;  whether 
the  life  had  broadened  or  narrowed  them;  and  whether  as- 
sured fortune  and  pecuniary  independence  had  brought  to 
them  a  desire  for  beauty  of  surroundings  and  broader  intelli- 
gence :  whether,  in  brief,  the  Communist  had  any  where  be- 
come something  more  than  a  comfortable  and  independent 
day-laborer,  and  aspired  to  something  higher  than  a  mere  bread- 
and-butter  existence. 

To  make  my  observations  I  was  obliged  to  travel  from  Maine 
in  the  northeast  to  Kentucky  in  the  south,  and  Oregon  in  the 
west.  I  have  thought  it  best  to  give  at  first  an  impartial  and 
not  unfriendly  account  of  each  commune,  or  organized  system 
of  communes  ;  and  in  several  concluding  chapters  I  have  ana- 
lyzed and  compared  their  different  customs  and  practices,  and 


22       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

attempted  to  state  what,  upon  the  facts  presented,  seem  to  be 
the  conditions  absolutely  requisite  to  the  successful  conduct  of 
a  communistic  society,  and  also  what  appear  to  be  the  influ- 
ences, for  good  and  evil,  of  such  bodies  upon  their  members 
and  upon  their  neighbors. 

I  have  added  some  particulars  of  the  Swedish  Commune 
which  lately  existed  at  Bishop  Hill,  in  Illinois,  but  which,  after 
a  flourishing  career  of  seven  years,  has  now  become  extinct ; 
and  I  did  this  to  show,  in  a  single  example,  what  are  the  causes 
which  work  against  harmony  and  success  in  such  a  society. 

Also  I  have  given  some  particulars  concerning  three  exam- 
ples of  colonization,  which,  though  they  do  not  properly  be- 
long to  my  subject,  are  yet  important,  as  showing  what  may 
be  accomplished  by  co-operative  efforts  in  agriculture,  under 
prudent  management. 

It  is,  I  suppose,  hardly  necessary  to  say  that,  while  I  have 
given  an  impartial  and  respectful  account  of  the  religious 
faith  of  each  commune,  I  am  not  therefore  to  be  supposed  to 
hold  with  any  of  them.  For  instance,  I  thought  it  interest- 
ing to  give  some  space  to  the  very  singular  phenomena  called 
"spiritual  manifestations"  among  the  Shakers;  but  I  am  not 
what  is  commonly  called  a  "  Spiritualist." 


>1S*I»*>    ^S^ 

?  5  3  •  '  3  5  3 


tO  J*i3^p?^H 

/  -: 


THE   INSPIRATIONISTS, 


AT 


THE    AMANA    COMMUNITY. 


THE  "  True  Inspiration  Congregations,"  as  they  call  them- 
selves ("  Wahre  Inspiration's  Gemeinden  "),  form  a  commu- 
nistic society  in  Iowa,  seventy-four  miles  west  of  Davenport. 

The  society  has  at  this  time  1450  members;  owns  about 
25,000  acres  of  land;  lives  on  this  land  in  seven  different 
small  towns ;  carries  on  agriculture  and  manufactures  of  sev- 
eral kinds,  and  is  highly  prosperous. 

Its  members  are  all  Germans. 

The  base  of  its  organization  is  religion;  they  are  pietists; 
and  their  religious  head,  at  present  a  woman,  is  supposed  by 
them  to  speak  by  direct  inspiration  of  God.  Hence  they  call 
themselves  "  Inspirationists." 

They  came  from  Germany  in  the  year  1842,  and  settled  at 
first  near  Buffalo,  on  a  large  tract  of  land  which  they  called 
Eben-Ezer.  Here  they  prospered  greatly;  but  feeling  the 
need  of  more  land,  in  1855  they  began  to  remove  to  their 
present  home  in  Iowa. 

They  have  printed  a  great  number  of  books — more  than 
one  hundred  volumes;  and  in  some  of  these  the  history  of 
their  peculiar  religious  belief  is  carried  back  to  the  beginning 
of  the  last  century.  They  continue  to  receive  from  Germany 
accessions  to  their  numbers,  and  often  pay  out  of  their  com- 
mon treasury  the  expenses  of  poor  families  who  recommend 
themselves  to  the  society  by  letters,  and  whom  their  inspired 
leader  declares  to  be  worthy. 


26       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

They  seem  to  have  conducted  their  pecuniary  affairs  with 
eminent  prudence  and  success. 


II. HlSTOEICAL. 

The  "  Work  of  Inspiration  "  is  said  to  have  begun  far  back 
in  the  eighteenth  century.  I  have  a  volume,  printed  in  1785, 
which  is  called  the  "Thirty-sixth  Collection  of  the  Inspira- 
tional Records,"  and  gives  an  account  of  "Brother  John 
Frederick  Kock's  journeys  and  visits  in  the  year  1719,  where- 
in are  recorded  numerous  utterances  of  the  Spirit  by  his  word 
of  mouth  to  the  faithful  in  Constance,  Schaffhausen,  Zurich, 
and  other  places." 

They  admit,  I  believe,  that  the  "Inspiration"  died  out 
from  time  to  time,  but  was  revived  as  the  congregations  be- 
came more  godly.  In  1749,  in  1772,  and  in  1776  there  were 
especial  demonstrations.  Finally,  in  the  year  1816,  Michael 
Krausert,  a  tailor  of  Strasburg,  became  what  they  call  an 
"instrument"  (werltzeug),  and  to  him  were  added  several 
others :  Philip  Mdrschel,  a  stocking-weaver,  and  a  German ; 
Christian  Metz,  a  carpenter.;  and  finally,  in  1818,  Barbara 
Heynemann,  a  "poor  and  illiterate  servant-maid,"  an  Alsa- 
cian  ("  eine  arme  ganz  ungelehrte  Dienstmagd  "). 

Metz,  who  was  for  many  years,  and  until  his  death  in  1867, 
the  spiritual  head  of  the  society,  wrote  an  account  of  the  so- 
ciety from  the  time  he  became  an  "instrument"  until  the 
removal  to  Iowa.  From  this,  and  from  a  volume  of  Barbara 
Heynemann's  inspired  utterances,  I  gather  that  the  congrega- 
tions did  not  hesitate  to  criticise,  and  very  sharply,  the  con- 
duct of  their  spiritual  leaders ;  and  to  depose  them,  and  even 
expel  them  for  cause.  Moreover,  they  recount  in  their  books, 
without  disguise,  all  their  misunderstandings.  Thus  it  is 
recorded  of  Barbara  Heynemann  that  in  1820  she  was  con- 


The  Amana  Community.  27 

demned  to  expulsion  from  the* society,  and  her  earnest  entreat- 
ies only  sufficed  to  obtain  consent  that  she  should  serve  as  a 
maid  in  the  family  of  one  of  the  congregation ;  but  even  then 
it  was  forbidden  her  to  come  to  the  meetings.  Her  exclusion 
seems,  however,  to  have  lasted  but  a  few  months.  Metz,  in  his 
"Historical  Description,"  relates  that  this  trouble  fell  upon 
Barbara  because  she  had  too  friendly  an  eye  upon  the  young 
men ;  and  there  are  several  notices  of  her  desire  to  marry,  as, 
for  instance,  under  date  of  August,  1822,  where  it  is  related 
that  "  the  Enemy  "  tempted  her  again  with  a  desire  to  marry 
George  Landmann ;  but  "  the  Lord  showed  through  Brother 
Rath,  and  also  to  her  own  conscience,  that  this  step  was 
against  his  holy  will,  and  accordingly  they  did  not  marry, 
but  did  repent  concerning  it,  and  the  Lord's  grace  was  once 
more  given  her."  But,  like  Jacob,  she  seems  to  have  wrestled 
with  the  Lord,  for  later  she  did  marry  George  Landmann, 
and,  though  they  were  for  a  while  under  censure,  she  regained 
her  old  standing  as  an  "  inspired  instrument,"  came  over  to 
the  United  States  with  her  husband,  was  for  many  years  the 
assistant  of  Metz,  and  since  his  death  has  been  the  inspired 
oracle  of  Amana. 

In  the  year  1822  the  congregations  appear  to  have  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  English  Quakers,  for  I  find  a  notice  that 
in  December  of  that  year  they  were  visited  by  William  Allen, 
a  Quaker  minister  from  London,  who  seems  to  have  been  a 
man  of  wealth.  He  inquired  concerning  their  religious  faith, 
and  told  them  that  he  and  his  brethren  at  home  were  also  sub- 
ject to  inspiration.  He  persuaded  them  to  hold  a  meeting,  at 
which  by  his  desire  they  read  the  14th  chapter  of  John ;  and 
he  told  them  that  it  was  probable  he  would  be  moved  of  the 
Lord  to  speak  to  them.  But  when  they  had  read  the  chapter, 
and  while  they  waited  for  the  Quaker's  inspiration,  Barbara 
Heynemann  was  moved  to  speak.  At  this  Allen  became  im- 
patient and  left  the  meeting ;  and  in  the  evening  he  told  the 


28       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

brethren  that  the  Quaker  inspiration  was  as  real  as  their  own, 
but  that  they  did  not  write  down  what  was  spoken  by  their 
preachers ;  whereto  he  received  for  reply  that  it  was  not  neces- 
sary, for  it  was  evident  that  the  Quakers  had  not  the  real  in- 
spiration, nor  the  proper  and  consecrated  " instruments"  to  de- 
clare the  will  of  the  Lord ;  and  so  the  Quaker  went  away  Km 
his  journey  home,  apparently  not  much  edified. 

The  congregations  were  much  scattered  in  Germany,  and 
it  appears  to  have  been  the  habit  of  the  "inspired  instru- 
ments "  to  travel  from  one  to  the  other,  deliver  messages  from 
on  high,  and  inquire  into  the  spiritual  condition  of  the  faith- 
ful. Under  the  leadership  of  Christian  Metz  and  several  others, 
between  1825  and  1839  a  considerable  number  of  their  fol- 
lowers were  brought  together  at  a  place  called  Armenburg, 
where  manufactures  gave  them  employment,  and  here  they 
prospered,  but  fell  into  trouble  with  the  government  because 
they  refused  to  take  oaths  and  to  send  their  children  to  the 
public  schools,  which  were  under  the  rule  of  the  clergy. 

In  1842  it  was  revealed  to  Christian  Metz  that  all  the  con« 
gregations  should  be  gathered  together,  and  be  led  far  away 
out  of  their  own  country.  Later,  America  was  pointed  out  as 
their  future  home.  To  a  meeting  of  the  elders  it  was  reveal- 
ed who  should  go  to  seek  out  a  place  for  settlement ;  and  Metz 
relates  in  his  brief  history  that  one  Peter  Mook  wanted  to  be 
among  these  pioneers,  and  was  dissatisfied  because  he  was  not 
among  those  named ;  and  as  Mook  insisted  on  going,  a  message 
came  the  next  day  from  God,  in  which  he  told  them  they 
might  go  or  stay  as  they  pleased,  but  if  they  remained  in  Ger- 
many it  would  be  "at  their  own  risk;"  and  as  Mook  was  not 
even  named  in  this  message,  he  concluded  to  remain  at  home. 

Metz  and  four  others  sailed  in  September,  1842,  for  New 
York.  They  found  their  way  to  Buffalo ;  and  there,  on  the  ad- 
vice of  the  late  Mr.  Dorsheimer,  from  whom  they  received 
much  kindness,  bought  five  thousand  acres  of  the  old  Seneca 


GKACE  BEFORE   MEAT — AMAXA. 


SCHOOL-HOUSE— AMANA. 


The  Amana  Community.  29 

Indian  reservation  at  ten  dollars  per  acre.  To  this  they  added 
later  nearly  as  much  more.  Parts  of  this  estate  now  lie  within 
the  corporate  limits  of  Buffalo ;  and  though  they  sold  out  and 
removed  to  the  West  before  the  land  attained  its  present  value, 
the  purchase  was  a  most  fortunate  one  for  them.  Metz  records 
that  they  had  much  trouble  at  first  with  the  Indians ;  but  they 
overcame  this  and  other  difficulties,  and  by  industry  and  ingenu- 
ity soon  built  up  comfortable  homes.  Three  hundred  and  fifty 
persons  were  brought  out  in  the  first  year,  two  hundred  and  sev- 
enteen in  1844  ;  and  their  numbers  were  increased  rapidly,  un- 
til they  had  over  one  thousand  people  in  their  different  villages. 

Between  1843  and  1855,  when  they  began  to  remove  to  Iowa, 
they  turned  their  purchase  at  Eben-Ezer  (as  they  called  the 
place)  into  a  garden.  I  visited  the  locality  last  year,  and  found 
there  still  the  large,  substantial  houses,  the  factories,  churches, 
and  shops  which  they  built.  Street  cars  now  run  where  they 
found  only  a  dense  forest ;  and  the  eight  thousand  acres  which 
they  cleared  are  now  fertile  fields  and  market-gardens.  An- 
other population  of  Germans  has  succeeded  the  Amana  Socie- 
ty ;  their  churches  now  have  steeples,  and  there  is  an  occasional 
dram-shop;  but  the  present  residents  speak  of  their  predeces- 
sors with  esteem  and  even  affection,  and  in  one  of  the  large 
stores  I  found  the  products  of  the  Iowa  society  regularly  sold. 
A  few  of  the  former  members  still  live  on  the  old  purchase. 

They  appear  to  have  had  considerable  means  from  the  first. 
Among  the  members  were  several  persons  of  wealth,  who  con- 
tributed large  sums  to  the  common  stock.  I  was  told  that  one 
person  gave  between  fifty  and  sixty  thousand  dollars;  and 
others  gave  sums  of  from  two  to  twenty  thousand  dollars. 

They  were  not  Communists  in  Germany ;  and  did  not,  I  was 
told,  when  they  first  emigrated,  intend  to  live  in  community. 
Among  those  who  came  over  in  the  first  year  were  some  fami- 
lies who  had  been  accustomed  to  labor  in  factories.  To  these 
the  agricultural  life  was  unpleasant,  and  it  was  thought  advis- 

C 


30      Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

able  to  set  up  a  woolen  factory  to  give  them  employment. 
This  was  the  first  difficulty  which  stared  them  in  the  face. 
They  had  intended  to  live  simply  as  a  Christian  congregation 
or  church,  but  the  necessity  which  lay  upon  them  of  looking 
to  the  temporal  welfare  of  all  the  members  forced  them  pres- 
ently to  think  of  putting  all  their  means  into  a  common  stock. 

Seeing  that  some  of  the  brethren  did  not  take  kindly  to 
agricultural  labor,  and  that  if  they  insisted  upon  a  purely  ag- 
ricultural settlement  they  would  lose  many  of  their  people, 
they  determined  that  each  should,  as  far  as  possible,  have  em- 
ployment at  the  work  to  which  he  was  accustomed.  They  be- 
gan to  build  workshops,  but,  to  carry  these  on  successfully, 
they  had  business  tact  enough  to  see  that  it  was  necessary  to 
do  so  by  a  general  contribution  of  means. 

"We  were  commanded  at  this  time,  by  inspiration,  to  put 
all  our  means  together  and  live  in  community,"  said  one  to 
me ;  "  and  we  soon  saw  that  we  could  not  have  got  on  or  kept 
together  on  any  other  plan." 

Eben-Ezer  is  a  wide  plain ;  and  there,  as  now  in  Iowa,  they 
settled  their  people  in  villages,  which  they  called  "  Upper," 
"  Lower,"  and  "  Middle  "  Eben-Ezer.  From  the  large  size  of 
many  of  the  houses,  I  imagine  they  had  there,  commonly,  sev- 
eral families  in  one  dwelling.  At  Amana  each  family  has  its 
own  house ;  otherwise  their  customs  were  similar  to  those  still 
retained  in  Iowa,  which  I  shall  describe  in  their  proper  place. 

In  1854  they  were  "  commanded  by  inspiration  "  to  remove 
to  the  West.  They  selected  Iowa  as  their  new  home,  because 
land  was  cheap  there ;  and  in  1855,  having  made  a  purchase, 
they  sent  out  a  detachment  to  prepare  the  way. 

It  is  a  remarkable  evidence  of  the  prudence  and  ability 
with  which  they  conduct  their  business  affairs,  that  they  were 
able  to  sell  out  the  whole  of  their  eight-thousand-acre  tract 
near  Buffalo,  with  all  their  improvements,  without  loss.  Usually 
such  a  sale  is  extremely  difficult,  because  the  buildings  of  a 


The  Amana  Community. 


communistic  society  have  peculiarities  which  detract  from 
their  value  for  individual  uses.  The  Rappists,  who  sold  out 
twice,  were  forced  to  submit  to  heavy  loss  each  time.  I  do  not 
doubt  that  several  of  the  northern  Shaker  societies  would  have 
removed  before  this  to  a  better  soil  and  climate  but  for  the 
difficulty  of  selling  their  possessions  at  a  fair  price. 

The  removal  from  Eben-Ezer  to  Arnana,  however,  required 
ten  years.  As  they  found  purchasers  in  one  place  they  sent 
families  to  the  other;  meantime  they  do  not  appear  to  have 
found  it  difficult  to  maintain  their  organization  in  both. 


III.— AMANA— 1874. 

"  The  name  we  took  out  of  the  Bible,"  said  one  of  the  officers 
of  the  society  to  me.  They  put  the  accent  on  the  first  syllable. 
The  name  occurs  in  the  Song  of  Solomon,  the  fourth  chapter 
and  eighth  verse :  "  Come  with  me  from  Lebanon,  my  spouse, 
with  me  from  Lebanon :  look  from  the  top  of  Amana,  from 
the  top  of  Shenir  and  Hermon,  from  the  lions'  dens,  from  the 
mountains  of  the  leopards." 

Amana  in  Iowa,  however,  is  not  a  mountain,  but  an  exten- 
sive plain,  upon  which  they  have  built  seven  villages,  conven- 
iently placed  so  as  to  command  the  cultivated  land,  and  to 
form  an  irregular  circle  within  their  possessions.  In  these 
villages  all  the  people  live,  and  they  are  thus  divided : 


Name. 

Popula- 
tion. 

Business. 

Amana  ,  .  .  •  • 

450 

(Woolen-mill,  saw  and  grist  mill. 

East  Amana      .       .... 

125 

I     and  farming. 
Farming 

Middle  Amana  

350 

Woolen-mill  and  fanning 

Amana  near  the  Hill  
West  Amana  
South  Amana 

125 
150 
150 

Farming,  saw-mill,  and  tannery. 
Grist-mill  and  farming. 
Saw-mill  and  farmincp 

Homestead  

135 

{  Railroad  station,  a  saw-mill,  farm- 

(     ing,  and  general  d6pot. 

32       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

The  villages  lie  about  a  mile  and  a  half  apart,  and  each  has 
a  store  at  which  the  neighboring  farmers  trade,  and  a  tavern 
or  inn  for  the  accommodation  of  the  general  public.  Each 
village  has  also  its  shoemakers',  carpenters',  tailors',  and  other 
shops,  for  they  aim  to  produce  and  make,  as  far  as  possible,  all 
that  they  use.  In  Middle  Amana  there  is  a  printing-office, 
where  their  books  are  made. 

The  villages  consist  usually  of  one  straggling  street,  outside 
of  which  lie  the  barns,  and  the  mills,  factories,  and  work- 
shops. The  houses  are  well  built,  of  brick,  stone,  or  wood, 
very  plain ;  each  with  a  sufficient  garden,  but  mostly  stand- 
ing immediately  on  the  street.  They  use  no  paint,  believing 
that  the  wood  lasts  as  well  without.  There  is  usually  a  nar- 
row sidewalk  of  boards  or  brick;  and  the  school-house  and 
church  are  notable  buildings  only  because  of  their  greater 
size.  Like  the  Quakers,  they  abhor  "steeple-houses;"  and 
their  church  architecture  is  of  the  plainest.  The  barns  and 
other  farm  buildings  are  roomy  and  convenient.  On  the 
boundaries  of  a  village  are  usually  a  few  houses  inhabited  by 
hired  laborers. 

Each  family  has  a  house  for  itself ;  though  when  a  young 
couple  marry,  they  commonly  go  to  live  with  the  parents  of 
one  or  the  other  for  some  years. 

As  you  walk  through  a  village,  you  notice  that  at  irregular 
intervals  are  houses  somewhat  larger  than  the  rest.  These 
are  either  cook-houses  or  prayer-houses.  The  people  eat  in 
common,  but  for  convenience'  sake  they  are  divided,  so  that 
a  certain  number  eat  together.  For  Amana,  which  has  450 
people,  there  are  fifteen  such  cooking  and  eating  houses.  In 
these  the  young  women  are  employed  to  work  under  the  super- 
vision of  matrons ;  and  hither  when  the  bell  rings  come  those 
who  are  appointed  to  eat  at  each — the  sexes  sitting  at  separate 
tables,  and  the  children  also  by  themselves. 

"  Why  do  you  separate  men  from  women  at  table  ?"   I  asked. 


The  Amana  Community.  33 

"  To  prevent  silly  conversation  and  trifling  conduct,"  was  the 
answer. 

Food  is  distributed  to  the  houses  according  to  the  number 
of  persons  eating  in  each.  Meal  and  milk  are  brought  to  the 
doors;  and  each  cooking-house  is  required  to  make  its  own 
butter  and  cheese.  For  those  whom  illness  or  the  care  of  small 
children  keeps  at  home,  the  food  is  placed  in  neat  baskets; 
and  it  was  a  curious  sight  to  see,  when  the  dinner-bell  rang,  a 
number  of  women  walking  rapidly  about  the  streets  with  these 
baskets,  each  nicely  packed  with  food. 

When  the  bell  ceases  ringing  and  all  are  assembled,  they 
stand  up  in  their  places  in  silence  for  half  a  minute,  then  one 
says  grace,  and  when  he  ends,  all  say,  "  God  bless  and  keep  us 
safely,"  and  then  sit  down.  There  is  but  little  conversation 
at  table ;  the  meal  is  eaten  rapidly,  but  with  decorum ;  and  at 
its  close,  all  stand  up  again,  some  one  gives  thanks,  and  there- 
upon they  file  out  with  quiet  order  and  precision. 

They  live  well,  after  the  hearty  German  fashion,  and  bake 
excellent  bread.  The  table  is  clean,  but  it  has  no  cloth.  The 
dishes  are  coarse  but  neat ;  and  the  houses,  while  well  built, 
and  possessing  all  that  is  absolutely  essential  to  comfort  ac- 
cording to  the  German  peasants'  idea,  have  not  always  carpets, 
and  have  often  a  bed  in  what  New-Englanders  would  call  the 
parlor;  and  in  general  are  for  use  and  not  ornament. 

They  breakfast  between  six  and  half-past  six,  according  to 
the  season,  have  supper  between  six  and  seven,  and  dinner  at 
half-past  eleven.  They  have  besides  an  afternoon  lunch  of 
bread  and  butter  and  coffee,  and  in  summer  a  forenoon  lunch 
of  bread,  to  which  they  add  beer  or  wine,  both  home-made. 

They  do  not  forbid  tobacco. 

Each  business  has  its  foreman ;  and  these  leaders  in  each 
village  meet  together  every  evening,  to  concert  and  arrange 
the  labors  of  the  following  day.  Thus  if  any  department 
needs  for  an  emergency  an  extra  force,  it  is  known,  and  the 


34      Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

proper  persons  are  warned.  The  trustees  select  the  temporal 
foremen,  and  give  to  each  from  time  to  time  his  proper  charge, 
appointing  him  also  his  helpers.  Thus  a  member  showed  me 
his  "ticket,"  by  which  he  was  appointed  to  the  care  of  the 
cows,  with  the  names  of  those  who  were  to  assist  him.  In  the 
summer,  and  when  the  work  requires  it,  a  large  force  is  turned 
into  the  fields ;  and  the  women  labor  with  the  men  in  the  har- 
vest. The  workmen  in  the  factories  are,  of  course,  not  often 
changed. 

The  children  are  kept  at  school  between  the  ages  of  six  and 
thirteen ;  the  sexes  do  not  sit  in  separate  rooms.  The  school 
opens  at  seven  o'clock,  and  the  children  study  and  recite  until 
half-past  nine.  From  that  hour  until  eleven,  when  they  are 
dismissed  for  dinner,  they  knit  gloves,  wristlets,  or  stockings. 
At  one  o'clock  school  reopens,  and  they  once  more  attend  to 
lessons  until  three,  from  which  hour  till  half-past  four  they 
knit  again.  The  teachers  are  men,  but  they  are  relieved  by 
women  when  the  labor-school  begins.  Boys  as  well  as  girls 
are  required  to  knit.  One  of  the  teachers  said  to  me  that  this 
work  kept  them  quiet,  gave  them  habits  of  industry,  and  kept 
them  off  the  streets  and  from  rude  plays. 

They  instruct  the  children  in  musical  notation,  but  do  not 
allow  musical  instruments.  They  give  only  the  most  element- 
ary instruction,  the  "  three  Ks,"  but  give  also  constant  drill 
in  the  Bible  and  in  the  Catechism.  "  Why  should  we  let  our 
youth  study  ?  "We  need  no  lawyers  or  preachers ;  we  have  al- 
ready three  doctors.  What  they  need  is  to  live  holy  lives,  to 
learn  God's  commandments  out  of  the  Bible,  to  learn  submis- 
sion to  his  will,  and  to  love  him." 

The  dress  of  the  people  is  plain.  The  men  wear  in  the 
winter  a  vest  which  buttons  close  up  to  the  throat,  coat  and 
trousers  being  of  the  common  cut. 

The  women  and  young  girls  wear  dingy  colored  stuffs,  mostly 
of  the  society's  own  make,  cut  in  the  plainest  style,  and  often 


The  Amana  Community.  35 

short  gowns,  in  the  German  peasant  way.  All,  even  to  the 
very  small  girls,  wear  their  hair  in  a  kind  of  black  cowl  or  cap, 
which  covers  only  the  back  of  the  head,  and  is  tied  under  the 
chin  by  a  black  ribbon.  Also  all,  young  as  well  as  old,  wear 
a  small  dark-colored  shawl  or  handkerchief  over  the  shoulders, 
and  pinned  very  plainly  across  the  breast.  This  peculiar  uni- 
form adroitly  conceals  the  marks  of  sex,  and  gives  a  singularly 
monotonous  appearance  to  the  women. 

The  sex,  I  believe,  is  not  highly  esteemed  by  these  people, 
who  think  it  dangerous  to  the  Christian's  peace  of  mind.  One 
of  their  most  esteemed  writers  advises  men  to  "  fly  from  inter- 
course with  women,  as  a  very  highly  dangerous  magnet  and 
magical  fire."  Their  women  work  hard  and  dress  soberly; 
all  ornaments  are  forbidden.  To  wear  the  hair  loose  is  pro- 
hibited. Great  care  is  used  to  keep  the  sexes  apart.  In  their 
evening  and  other  meetings,  women  not  only  sit  apart  from 
men,  but  they  leave  the  room  before  the  men  break  ranks. 
Boys  are  allowed  to  play  only  with  boys,  and  girls  with  girls. 
There  are  no  places  or  occasions  for  evening  amusements, 
where  the  sexes  might  meet.  On  Sunday  afternoons  the  boys 
are  permitted  to  walk  in  the  fields;  and  so  are  the  girls, but 
these  must  go  in  another  direction.  "  Perhaps  they  meet  in 
the  course  of  the  walk,"  said  a  member  to  me, "  but  it  is  not 
allowed."  At  meals  and  in  their  labors  they  are  also  separated. 
With  all  this  care  to  hide  the  charms  of  the  young  women,  to 
make  them,  as  far  as  dress  can  do  so,  look  old  and  ugly,  and 
to  keep  the  young  men  away  from  them,  love,  courtship,  and 
marriage  go  on  at  Amana  as  elsewhere  in  the  world.  The 
young  man  "  falls  in  love,"  and  finds  ways  to  make  his  passion 
known  to  its  object;  he  no  doubt  enjoys  all  the  delights  of 
courtship,  intensified  by  the  difficulties  which  his  prudent 
brethren  put  in  his  way ;  and  he  marries  the  object  of  his  af- 
fection, in  spite  of  her  black  hood  and  her  sad-colored  little 
shawl,  whenever  he  has  reached  the  age  of  twenty-four. 


36       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

For  before  that  age  tie  may  not  marry,  even  if  his  parents 
consent.  This  is  a  merely  prudential  rule.  "  They  have  few 
cares  in  life,  and  would  marry  too  early  for  their  own  good 
— food  and  lodging  being  secured  them — if  there  were  not  a 
rule  upon  the  subject;"  so  said  one  of  their  wise  men  to  me. 
Therefore,  no  matter  how  early  the  young  people  agree  to 
marry,  the  wedding  is  deferred  until  the  man  reaches  the 
proper  age. 

And  when  at  last  the  wedding-day  comes,  it  is  treated  with 
a  degree  of  solemnity  which  is  calculated  to  make  it  a  day  of 
terror  rather  than  of  unmitigated  delight.  The  parents  of  the 
bride  and  groom  meet,  with  two  or  three  of  the  elders,  at  the 
house  of  the  bride's  father.  Here,  after  singing  and  prayer, 
that  chapter  of  Paul's  writings  is  read  wherein,  with  great 
plainness  of  speech,  he  describes  to  the  Ephesians  and  the 
Christian  world  in  general  the  duties  of  husband  and  wife. 
On  this  chapter  the  elders  comment  "  with  great  thoroughness  " 
to  the  young  people,  and  "  for  a  long  time,"  as  I  was  told ;  and 
after  this  lecture,  and  more  singing  and  prayer,  there  is  a  mod- 
est supper,  whereupon  all  retire  quietly  to  their  homes. 

The  strictly  pious  hold  that  marriages  should  be  made  only 
by  consent  of  God,  signified  through  the  "  inspired  instrument." 

While  the  married  state  has  thus  the  countenance  and  sanc- 
tion of  the  society  and  its  elders,  matrimony  is  not  regarded 
as  a  meritorious  act.  It  has  in  it,  they  say,  a  certain  large  de- 
gree of  worldliness ;  it  is  not  calculated  to  make  them  more, 
but  rather  less  spiritually  minded — so  think  they  at  Amana — 
and  accordingly  the  religious  standing  of  the  young  couple 
suffers  and  is  lowered.  In  the  Amana  church  there  are  three 
"classes,"  orders  or  grades,  the  highest  consisting  of  those 
members  who  have  manifested  in  their  lives  the  greatest  spirit- 
uality and  piety.  Now,  if  the  new-married  couple  should 
have  belonged  for  years  to  this  highest  class,  their  wedding 
would  put  them  down  into  the  lowest,  or  the  "  children's  order," 


The  Amana  Community.  37 

for  a  year  or  two,  until  they  had  won  their  slow  way  back  by 
deepening  piety. 

The  civil  or  temporal  government  of  the  Amana  commu- 
nists consists  of  thirteen  trustees,  chosen  annually  by  the  male 
members  of  the  society.  The  president  of  the  society  is 
chosen  by  the  trustees. 

This  body  manages  the  finances,  and  carries  on  the  tem- 
poralities generally,  but  it  acts  only  with  the  unanimous  con- 
sent of  its  members.  The  trustees  live  in  different  villages, 
but  exercise  no  special  authority,  as  I  understand,  as  individ- 
uals. The  foremen  and  elders  in  each  village  carry  on  the 
work  and  keep  the  accounts.  Each  village  keeps  its  own  books 
and  manages  its  own  affairs ;  but  all  accounts  are  finally  sent 
to  the  head-quarters  at  Amana,  where  they  are  inspected,  and 
the  balance  of  profit  or  loss  is  discovered.  It  is  supposed  that 
the  labor  of  each  village  produces  a  profit ;  but  whether  it  does 
or  not  makes  no  difference  in  the  supplies  of  the  people,  who 
receive  every  thing  alike,  as  all  property  is  held  in  common. 
All  accounts  are  balanced  once  a  year,  and  thus  the  produc- 
tiveness of  every  industry  is  ascertained. 

The  elders  are  a  numerous  body,  not  necessarily  old  men, 
but  presumably  men  of  deep  piety  and  spirituality.  They  are 
named  or  appointed  by  inspiration,  and  preside  at  religious 
assemblies. 

In  every  village  four  or  five  of  the  older  and  more  experi- 
enced elders  meet  each  morning  to  advise  together  on  business. 
This  council  acts,  as  I  understand,  upon  reports  of  those  younger 
elders  who  are  foremen  and  have  charge  of  different  affairs. 
These  in  turn  meet  for  a  few  minutes  every  evening,  and  ar- 
range for  the  next  day's  work. 

Women  are  never  members  of  these  councils,  nor  do  they 
hold,  as  far  as  I  could  discover,  any  temporal  or  spiritual  au- 
thority, with  the  single  exception  of  their  present  spiritual 
head,  who  is  a  woman  of  eighty  years.  Moreover,  if  a  young 


38       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

man  should  marry  out  of  the  society,  and  his  wife  should  de- 
sire to  become  a  member,  the  husband  is  expelled  for  a  year 
— at  the  end  of  which  time  both  may  make  application  to  come 
in,  if  they  wish. 

They  have  contrived  a  very  simple  and  ingenious  plan  for 
supplying  their  members  with  clothing  and  other  articles  aside 
from  food.  To  each  adult  male  an  annual  allowance  is  made 
of  from  forty  to  one  hundred  dollars,  according  as  his  position 
and  labor  necessitates  more  or  less  clothing.  For  each  adult 
female  the  allowance  is  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  dollars,  and 
from  five  to  ten  dollars  for  each  child. 

All  that  they  need  is  kept  in  store  in  each  village,  and  is 
sold  to  the  members  at  cost  and  expenses.  When  any  one  re- 
quires an  article  of  clothing,  he  goes  to  the  store  and  selects  the 
cloth,  for  which  he  is  charged  in  a  book  he  brings  with  him ; 
he  then  goes  to  the  tailor,  who  makes  the  garment,  and  charges 
him  on  the  book  an  established  price.  If  he  needs  shoes,  or  a 
hat,  or  tobacco,  or  a  watch,  every  thing  is  in  the  same  way 
charged.  As  I  sat  in  one  of  the  shops,  I  noticed  wromen  com- 
ing in  to  make  purchases,  often  bringing  children  with  them, 
and  each  had  her  little  book  in  which  due  entry  was  made. 
"  Whatever  we  do  not  use,  is  so  much  saved  against  next  year ; 
or  we  may  give  it  away  if  we  like,"  one  explained  to  me ;  and 
added  that  during  the  war,  when  the  society  contributed  be- 
tween eighteen  and  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  various  be- 
nevolent purposes,  much  of  this  was  given  by  individual  mem- 
bers out  of  the  savings  on  their  year's  account. 

Almost  every  man  has  a  watch,  but  they  keep  a  strict  rule 
over  vanities  of  apparel,  and  do  not  allow  the  young  girls  to 
buy  or  wear  ear-rings  or  breastpins. 

The  young  and  unmarried  people,  if  they  have  no  parents, 
are  divided  around  among  the  families. 

They  have  not  many  labor-saving  contrivances ;  though  of 
course  the  eating  in  common  is  both  economical  and  labor- 


The  Amana  Community.  39 

saving.  There  is  in  each  village  a  general  wash-house,  where 
the  clothing  of  the  unmarried  people  is  washed,  but  each  fam- 
ily does  its  own  washing. 

They  have  no  libraries ;  and  most  of  their  reading  is  in  the 
Bible,  and  in  their  own  "  inspired  "  records,  which,  as  I  shall 
show  further  on,  are  quite  voluminous.  A  few  newspapers 
are  taken,  and  each  calling  among  them  receives  the  journal 
which  treats  of  its  own  specialty.  In  general  they  aim  to  with- 
draw themselves  as  much  as  possible  from  the  world,  and 
take  little  interest  in  public  affairs.  During  the  war  they 
voted ;  "  but  we  do  not  now,  for  we  do  not  like  the  turn  pol- 
itics have  taken" — which  seemed  to  me  a  curious  reason  for 
refusing  to  vote. 

Their  members  came  originally  from  many  parts  of  Ger- 
many and  Switzerland ;  they  have  also  a  few  "  Pennsylvania 
Dutch."  They  have  much  trouble  with  applicants  who  desire 
to  join  the  society ;  and  receive,  the  secretary  told  me,  some- 
times dozens  of  letters  in  a  month  from  persons  of  whom  they 
know  nothing ;  and  not  a  few  of  whom,  it  seems,  write,  not  to 
ask  permission  to  join,  but  to  say  that  they  are  coming  on  at 
once.  There  have  been  cases  where  a  man  wrote  to  say  that 
he  had  sold  all  his  possessions,  and  was  then  on  the  way,  with 
his  family,  to  join  the  association.  As  they  claim  to  be  not 
an  industrial,  but  a  religions  community,  they  receive  new 
members  with  great  care,  and  only  after  thorough  investiga- 
tion of  motives  and  religious  faith ;  and  these  random  appli- 
cations are  very  annoying  to  them.  Most  of  their  new  mem- 
bers they  receive  from  Germany,  accepting  them  after  proper 
correspondence,  and  under  the  instructions  of  "inspiration." 
Where  they  believe  them  "worthy  they  do  not  inquire  about 
their  means ;  and  a  fund  is  annually  set  apart  by  the  trustees 
to  pay  the  passage  of  poor  families  whom  they  have  deter- 
mined to  take  in. 

Usually  a  neophyte  enters  on  probation  for  two  years,  sign- 


40       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

ing  an  obligation  to  labor  faithfully,  to  conduct  himself  ac- 
cording to  the  society's  regulations,  and  to  demand  no  wages. 
If  at  the  close  of  his  probation  he  appears  to  be  a  proper  per- 
son, he  is  admitted  to  full  membership ;  and  if  he  has  property, 
he  is  then  expected  to  put  this  into  the  common  stock ;  sign- 
ing also  the  constitution,  which  provides  that  on  leaving  he 
shall  have  his  contribution  returned,  but  without  interest. 

There  are  cases,  however,  where  a  new-comer  is  at  once  ad- 
mitted to  full  membership.  This  is  where  "  inspiration  "  di- 
rects such  breach  of  the  general  rule,  on  the  ground  that  the 
applicant  is  already  a  fit  person. 

Most  of  their  members  came  from  the  Lutheran  Church ; 
but  they  have  also  Catholics,  and  I  believe  several  Jews. 

They  employ  about  two  hundred  hired  hands,  mostly  in  ag- 
ricultural labors ;  and  these  are  all  Germans,  many  of  whom 
have  families.  For  these  they  supply  houses,  and  give  them 
sometimes  the  privilege  of  raising  a  few  cattle  on  their  land. 

They  are  excellent  farmers,  and  keep  fine  stock,  which 
they  care  for  with  German  thoroughness;  stall-feeding  in 
the  winter. 

The  members  do  not  work  hard.  One  of  the  foremen  told 
me  that  three  hired  hands  would  do  as  much  as  five  or  six  of 
the  members.  Partly  this  comes  no  doubt  from  the  interrup- 
tion to  steady  labor  caused  by  their  frequent  religious  meet- 
ings ;  but  I  have  found  it  generally  true  that  the  members  of 
communistic  societies  take  life  easy. 

The  people  are  of  varying  degrees  of  intelligence ;  but  most 
of  them  belong  to  the  peasant  class  of  Germany,  and  were 
originally  farmers,  weavers,  or  mechanics.  They  are  quiet,  a 
little  stolid,  and  very  well  satisfied  with  their  life.  Here,  as 
in  other  communistic  societies,  the  brains  seem  to  come  easily 
to  the  top.  The  leading  men  with  whom  I  conversed  appeared 
to  me  to  be  thoroughly  trained  business  men  in  the  German 
fashion ;  men  of  education,  too,  and  a  good  deal  of  intelli- 


The  Amana  Community.  41 

gence.  The  present  secretary  told  me  that  he  had  been  dur- 
ing all  his  early  life  a  merchant  in  Germany ;  and  he  had  the 
grave  and  somewhat  precise  air  of  an  honest  German  mer- 
chant of  the  old  style — prudent,  with  a  heavy  sense  of  respon- 
sibility, a  little  rigid,  and  yet  kindly. 

At  the  little  inn  I  talked  with  a  number  of  the  rank  and 
file,  and  noticed  in  them  great  satisfaction  with  their  method 
of  life.  They  were,  on  the  surface,  the  commoner  kind  of 
German  laborers ;  but  they  had  evidently  thought  pretty  thor- 
oughly upon  the  subject  of  communal  living ;  and  knew  how 
to  display  to  me  what  appeared  to  them  its  advantages  in  their 
society :  the  absolute  equality  of  all  men — "  as  God  made  us ;" 
the  security  for  their  families;  the  abundance  of  food;  and 
the  independence  of  a  master. 

It  seems  to  me  that  these  advantages  are  dearer  to  the  Ger- 
mans than  to  almost  any  other  nation,  and  hence  they  work 
more  harmoniously  in  communistic  experiments.  I  think  I 
noticed  at  Amana,  and  elsewhere  among  the  German  com- 
munistic societies,  a  satisfaction  in  their  lives,  a  pride  in  the 
equality  which  the  communal  system  secures,  and  also  in  the 
conscious  surrender  of  the  individual  will  to  the  general  good, 
which  is  not -so  clearly  and  satisfactorily  felt  among  other  na- 
tionalities. Moreover,  the  German  peasant  is  fortunate  in  his 
tastes,  which  are  frugal  and  well  fitted  for  community  living. 
He  has  not  a  great  sense  of  or  desire  for  beauty  of  surround- 
ings; he  likes  substantial  living,  but  cares  nothing  for  elegance. 
His  comforts  are  not,  like  the  American's,  of  a  costly  kind. 

I  think,  too,  that  his  lower  passions  are  more  easily  regu- 
lated or  controlled,  and  certainly  he  is  more  easily  contented 
to  remain  in  one  place.  The  innkeeper,  a  little  to  my  sur- 
prise, when  by  chance  I  told  him  that  I  had  spent  a  winter  on 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  asked  me  with  the  keenest  delight  and 
curiosity  about  the  trees,  the  climate,  and  the  life  there ;  and 
wanted  to  know  if  I  had  seen  the  place  where  Captain  Cook, 


42       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"  the  great  circumnavigator  of  the  world,"  was  slain.  He  re- 
turned to  the  subject  again  and  again,  and  evidently  looked 
upon  me  as  a  prodigiously  interesting  person,  because  I  had 
been  fortunate  enough  to  see  what  to  him  was  classic  ground. 
An  American  would  not  have  felt  one  half  this  man's  inter- 
est ;  but  he  would  probably  have  dreamed  of  making  the 
same  journey  some  day.  My  kindly  host  sat  serenely  in  his 
place,  and  was  not  moved  by  a  single  wandering  thought. 

They  forbid  all  amusements — all  cards  and  games  what- 
ever, and  all  musical  instruments;  "one  might  have  a  flute, 
but  nothing  more."  Also  they  regard  photographs  and  pict- 
ures of  all  kinds  as  tending  to  idol- worship,  and  therefore  not 
to  be  allowed. 

They  have  made  very  substantial  improvements  upon  their 
property ;  among  other  things,  in  order  to  secure  a  sufficient 
water-power,  they  dug  a  canal  six  miles  long,  and  from  five 
to  ten  feet  deep,  leading  a  large  body  of  water  through  Amana. 
On  this  canal  they  keep  a  steam-scow  to  dredge  it  out  annually. 

As  a  precaution  against  fire,  in  Amana  there  is  a  little  tower 
upon  a  house  in  the  middle  of  the  village,  where  two  men  keep 
watch  all  night. 

They  buy  much  wool  from  the  neighboring  farmers;  and 
have  a  high  reputation  for  integrity  and  simple  plain-dealing 
among  their  neighbors.  A  farmer  told  me  that  it  was  not 
easy  to  cheat  them ;  and  that  they  never  dealt  the  second  time 
with  a  man  who  had  in  any  way  wronged  them ;  but  that  they 
paid  a  fair  price  for  all  they  bought,  and  always  paid  cash. 

In  their  woolen  factories  they  make  cloth  enough  for  their 
own  wants  and  to  supply  the  demand  of  the  country  about 
them.  Flannels  and  yarn,  as  well  as  woolen  gloves  and  stock- 
ings, they  export,  sending  some  of  these  products  as  far  as 
New  York.  The  gloves  and  stockings  are  made  not  only  by 
the  children,  but  by  the  women  during  the  winter  months, 
when  they  are  otherwise  unemployed. 


The  Amana  Community.  43 

At  present  they  own  about  3000  sheep,  1500  head  of  cattle, 
200  horses,  and  2500  hogs. 

The  society  has  no  debt,  and  has  a  considerable  fund  at  in- 
terest. 

They  lose  very  few  of  their  young  people.  Some  who  leave 
them  return  after  a  few  years  in  the  world.  Plain  and  dull 
as  the  life  is,  it  appears  to  satisfy  the  youth  they  train  up ;  and 
no  doubt  it  has  its  rewards  in  its  regularity,  peacefulness,  se- 
curity against  want,  and  freedom  from  dependence  on  a  master. 

It  struck  me  as  odd  that  in  cases  of  illness  they  use  chiefly 
homeopathic  treatment.  The  people  live  to  a  hale  old  age. 
They  had  among  the  members,  in  March,  1874,  a  woman  aged 
ninety-seven,  and  a  number  of  persons  over  eighty. 

They  are  non-resistants;  but  during  the  late  war  paid  for 
substitutes  in  the  army.  "  But  we  did  wrongly  there,"  said  one 
to  me ;  "  it  is  not  right  to  take  part  in  wars  even  in  this  way." 

To  sum  up :  the  people  of  Amana  appeared  to  me  a  remark- 
ably quiet,  industrious,  and  contented  population ;  honest,  of 
good  repute  among  their  neighbors,  very  kindly,  and  with  re- 
ligion so  thoroughly  and  largely  made  a  part  of  their  lives 
that  they  may  be  called  a  religious  people. 


IV. — RELIGION  AND  LITERATURE. 

"  If  one  gives  himself  entirely,  and  in  all  his  life,  to  the  will 
of  God,  he  will  presently  be  possessed  by  the  Spirit  of  God." 

"  The  Bible  is  the  Word  of  God ;  each  prophet  or  sacred 
writer  wrote  only  what  he  received  from  God." 

"In  the  New  Testament  we  read  that  the  disciples  were 
4  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,'  But  the  same  God  lives  now, 
and  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  he  inspires  his  followers 
now  as  then ;  and  that  he  will  lead  his  people,  in  these  days 
as  in  those,  by  the  words  of  his  inspiration." 

D 


44       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"He  leads  us  in  spiritual  matters,  and  in  those  temporal 
concerns  which  affect  our  spiritual  life ;  but  we  do  not  look  to 
him  for  inspired  directions  in  all  the  minute  affairs  of  our 
daily  lives.  Inspiration  directed  us  to  come  to  America,  and 
to  leave  Eben-Ezer  for  Iowa.  Inspiration  sometimes  directs 
us  to  admit  a  new-comer  to  full  membership,  and  sometimes 
to  expel  an  unworthy  member.  Inspiration  discovers  hidden 
sins  in  the  congregation." 

"  We  have  no  creed  except  the  Bible." 

"  We  ought  to  live  retired  and  spiritual  lives ;  to  keep  our- 
selves separate  from  the  world ;  to  cultivate  humility,  obedi- 
ence to  God's  will,  faithfulness,  and  love  to  Christ." 

"  Christ  is  our  head." 

Such  are  some  of  the  expressions  of  their  religious  belief 
which  the  pious  and  well-instructed  at  Amana  gave  me. 

They  have  published  two  Catechisms — one  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  children,  the  other  for  the  use  of  older  persons.  From 
these  it  appears  that  they  are  Trinitarians,  believe  in  "justifi- 
cation by  faith,"  hold  to  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  the  final 
judgment,  but  not  to  eternal  punishment,  believing  rather  that 
fire  will  purify  the  wicked  in  the. course  of  time,  longer  or 
shorter  according  to  their  wickedness. 

They  do  not  practice  baptism,  either  infant  or  adult,  hold- 
ing it  to  be  a  useless  ceremony  not  commanded  in  the  New 
Testament.  They  celebrate  the  Lord's  Supper,  not  at  regular 
periods,  but  only  when  by  the  words  of  "  inspiration  "  God  or- 
ders them  to  do  so ;  and  then  with  peculiar  ceremonies,  which 
I  shall  Describe  further  on. 

As  to  this  word  "  Inspiration,"  I  quote  here  from  the  Cate- 
chism their  definition  of  it : 

"  Question.  Is  it  therefore  the  Spirit  or  the  witness  of  Jesus 
which  speaks  and  bears  witness  through  the  truly  inspired 
persons  ? 

"Answer.  Yes ;  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  Spirit  of  Jesus,  which 


The  Amana  Community.  45 

brings  to  light  the  hidden  secrets  of  the  heart,  and  gives  wit- 
ness to  our  spirits  that  it  is  the  Spirit  of  truth. 

"  Q.  When  did  the  work  of  inspiration  begin  in  the  later 
times  ? 

"  A.  About  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  and  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  About  this  time  the  Lord  began  the  gra- 
cious work  of  inspiration  in  several  countries  (France,  England, 
and,  at  last,  in  Germany),  gathered  a  people  by  these  new 
messengers  of  peace,  and  declared  a  divine  sentence  of  pun- 
ishment against  the  fallen  Christian  world. 

"  Q.  How  were  these c  instruments'  or  messengers  called  ? 

"A.  Inspired  or  new  prophets.  They  were  living  trumpets 
of  God,  which  shook  the  whole  of  Christendom,  and  awakened 
many  out  of  their  sleep  of  security. 

*  #  *  #  *  *  * 

"  Q-  What  is  the  word  of  inspiration  ? 

"  A.  It  is  the  prophetic  word  of  the  New  Testament,  or  the 
Spirit  of  prophecy  in  the  new  dispensation. 

"  Q.  What  properties  and  marks  of  divine  origin  has  this 
inspiration  ? 

"A.  It  is  accompanied  by  a  divine  power,  and  reveals  the 
secrets  of  the  heart  and  conscience  in  a  way  which  only  the 
all-knowing  and  soul-penetrating  Spirit  of  Jesus  has  power  to 
do ;  it  opens  the  ways  of  love  and  grace,  of  the  holiness  and 
justice  of  God ;  and  these  revelations  and  declarations  are  in 
their  proper  time  accurately  fulfilled. 

"  Q.  Through  whom  is  the  Spirit  thus  poured  out  ? 

"A.  Through  the  vessels  of  grace,  or  'instruments'  chosen 
and  fitted  by  the  Lord. 

"  Q.  How  must  these  ( instruments'  be  constituted  ? 

"  A.  They  must  conform  themselves  in  humility  and  child- 
like obedience  to  all  the*  motions  and  directions  of  God  within 
them  ;  without  care  for  self  or  fear  of  men,  they  must  walk  in 
the  fear  of  God,  and  with  attentive  watchfulness  for  the  inner 


46      Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

signs  of  his  leading;  and  they  must  subject  themselves  in 
every  way  to  the  discipline  of  the  Spirit." 

Concerning  the  Constitution  of  the  Inspiration  Congrega- 
tions or  communities,  the  same  Catechism  asserts  that  it  "  is 
founded  upon  the  divine  revelation  in  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
tament, connected  with  the  divine  directions,  instructions,  and 
determinations,  general  and  special,  given  through  the  words 
of  the  true  inspiration." 

"  Question.  Through  or  by  whom  are  the  divine  ordinances 
carried  out  in  the  congregations  ? 

"Answer.  By  the  elders  and  leaders,  who  have  been  chosen 
and  nominated  to  this  purpose  by  God. 

"  Q.  What  are  their  duties  ? 

"A.  Every  leader  or  elder  of  the  congregation  is  in  duty 
bound,  by  reason  of  his  divine  call,  to  advance,  in  the  measure 
of  the  grace  and  power  given  him,  the  spiritual  and  temporal 
welfare  of  the  congregation ;  but  in  important  and  difficult 
circumstances  the  Spirit  of  prophecy  will  give  the  right  and 
correct  decision. 

"  Q.  Is  the  divine  authority  to  bind  and  loose,  intrusted, 
according  to  Matt,  xvi.,  19,  to  the  apostle  Peter,  also  given  to 
the  elderstof  the  Inspiration  Congregations  ? 

"A.  It  belongs  to  all  elders  and  teachers  of  the  congrega- 
tion of  the  faithful,  who  were  called  by  the  Lord  Jesus  through 
the  power  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  who,  by  the  authority  of  their 
divine  call,  and  of  the  divine  power  within  them,  rule  without 
abuse  the  congregations  or  flocks  intrusted  to  them. 

"  Q.  What  are  the  duties  of  the  members  of  the  Inspiration 
Congregations  ? 

"A.  A  pure  and  upright  walk  in  the  fear  of  God ;  heartfelt 
love  and  devotion  toward  their  brethren,  and  childlike  obedi- 
ence toward  God  and  the  ciders." 

These  are  the  chief  articles  of  faith  of  the  Amana  Com- 
munity. 


The  Amana  Community.  47 

They  regard  the  utterances,  while  in  the  trance  state,  of 
their  spiritual  head  as  given  from  God ;  and  believe — as  is  as- 
serted in  the  Catechism — that  evils  and  wrongs  in  the  congre- 
gation will  be  thus  revealed  by  the  influence,  or,  as  they  say, 
the  inspiration  or  breath  of  God;  that  in  important  affairs 
they  will  thus  receive  the  divine  direction  ;  and  that  it  is  their 
duty  to  obey  the  commands  thus  delivered  to  them. 

There  were  "inspired  instruments"  before  Christian  Metz. 
Indeed,  the  present  "instrument,"  Barbara  Landmann,  was 
accepted  before  him,  but  by  reason  of  her  marriage  fell  from 
grace  for  a  while.  It  would  seem  that  Metz  also  was  married ; 
for  I  was  told  at  Amana  that  at  his  death  in  186T,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-seven,  he  left  a  daughter  in  the  community. 

The  words  of  "inspiration"  are  usually  delivered  in  the 
public  meetings,  and  at  funerals  and  other  solemn  occasions. 
They  have  always  been  carefully  written  down  by  persons 
specially  appointed  to  that  office;  and  this  appears  to  have 
been  done  so  long  ago  as  1719,  when  "  Brother  John  Frederick 
Rock"  made  his  journey  through  Constance,  Schaffhausen,  Zu- 
rich, etc.,  with  "  Brother  J.  J.  Schulthes  as  writer,  who  wrote 
down  every  thing  correctly,  from  day  to  day,  and  in  weal  or 
woe." 

When  the  "instrument"  "falls  into  inspiration," he  is  often 
severely  shaken — Metz,  they  say,  sometimes  shook  for  an  hour 
— and  thereupon  follow  the  utterances  which  are  believed  to 
proceed  from  God.  The  "  instrument"  sits  or  kneels,  or  walks 
about  among  the  congregation.  "  Brother  Metz  used  to  walk 
about  in  the  meeting  with  his  eyes  closed ;  but  he  always  knew 
to  whom  he  was  speaking,  or  where  to  turn  with  words  of  re- 
proof, admonition,  or  encouragement" — so  I  was  told. 

The  "inspired"  words  are  not  always  addressed  to  the 
general  congregation,  but  often  to  individual  members ;  and 
their  feelings  are  not  spared.  Thus  in  one  case  Barbara  Land- 
mann, being  "  inspired,"  turned  upon  a  sister  with  the  words, 


48       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"  But  you,  wretched  creature,  follow  the  true  counsel  of  obedi- 
ence ;"  and  to  another :  "  And  you,  contrary  spirit,  how  much 
pain  do  you  give  to  our  hearts.  You  will  fall  into  everlasting 
pain,  torture,  and  unrest  if  you  do  not  break  your  will  and  re- 
pent, so  that  you  may  be  accepted  and  forgiven  by  those  you 
have  offended,  and  who  have  done  so  much  for  you." 

The  warnings,  prophecies,  reproofs,  and  admonitions,  thus 
delivered  by  the  "  inspired  instrument,"  are  all,  as  I  have  said, 
carefully  written  down,  and  in  convenient  time  printed  in 
yearly  volumes,  entitled  "  Year-Books  of  the  True  Inspiration 
Congregations :  Witnesses  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  happen 
ed  and  were  spoken  in  the  Meetings  of  the  Society,  through 
the  Instruments,  Brother  Christian  Metz  and  Sister  B.  Land- 
mann,"  with  the  year  in  which  they  were  delivered.  In  this 
country  they  early  established  a  printing-press  at  Eben-Ezer, 
and  after  their  removal  also  in  Iowa,  and  have  issued  a  con- 
siderable number  of  volumes  of  these  records.  They  are  read 
as  of  equal  authority  and  almost  equal  importance  with  the 
Bible.  Every  family  possesses  some  volumes ;  and  in  their 
meetings  extracts  are  read  aloud  after  the  reading  of  the 
Scriptures. 

There  is  commonly  a  brief  preface  to  each  revelation,  re- 
counting the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  delivered ;  as 
for  instance : 

"No.  10.  Lovier  Eben-Ezer,  November  7,  1853.  —  Monday 
morning  the  examination  of  the  .congregation  was  made  here 
according  to  the  command  of  the  Lord.  For  the  opening 
service  five  verses  were  sung  of  the  hymn, '  Lord,  give  thyself 
to  me;'  the  remainder  of  the  hymn  was  read.  After  the 
prayer,  and  a  brief  silence,  Sister  Barbara  Landrnann  fell  into 
inspiration,  and  was  forced  to  bear  witness  in  the  following 
gracious  and  impressive  revival  words  of  love." 

The  phrase  varies  with  the  contents  of  the  message,  as,  on 
another  occasion,  it  is  written  that "  both '  instruments'  fell  into 


The  Amana  Community.  49 

inspiration,  and  there  followed  this  earnest  admonition  to  re- 
pentance, and  words  of  warning ;"  or,  again,  the  words  are  de- 
scribed as  "  important,5'  or  "  severe,"  or  "  gentle  and  gracious 
and  hope  inspiring." 

During  his  wanderings  in  Germany  among  the  congrega- 
tions, Metz  appears  to  have  fallen  into  inspiration  almost  daily, 
not  only  in  meetings,  but  during  conversations,  and  even  occa- 
sionally at  dinner — whereupon  the  dinner  waited.  Thus  it  is 
recorded  that u  at  the'Rehmiihle,  near  Hambach,  June  1, 1839 
—  this  afternoon  the  traveling  brethren  with  Brother  Peter 
came  hither  and  visited  friend  Matthias  Bieber.  After  con- 
versation, as  they  were  about  to  sit  down  to  eat  something, 
Brother  Christian  Metz  fell  into  inspiration,  and  delivered 
the  following  words  to  his  friend,  and  Brother  Philip  Pe- 
ter." 

The  inspired  utterances  are  for  the  most  part  admonitory  to 
a  holier  life ;  warnings,  often  in  the  severest  language,  against 
selfishness,  stubbornness,  coldness  of  heart,  pride,  hatred  toward 
God,  grieving  the  Spirit;  with  threats  of  the  wrath  of  God, 
of  punishment,  etc.  Humility  and  obedience  are  continually 
inculcated.  "  Lukewarmness "  appears  to  be  one  of  the  pre- 
vailing sins  of  the  community.  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
to  a  stranger  these  homilies  are  dull  reading.  Concerning 
violations  of  the  Ten  Commandments  or  of  the  moral  law,  I 
have  not  found  any  mention  here ;  and  I  do  not  doubt  that 
the  members  of  the  society  live,  on  the  whole,  uncommonly 
blameless  lives.  I  asked,  for  instance,  what  punishment  their 
rules  provided  for  drunkenness,  but  was  told  that  this  vice  is 
not  found  among  them;  though,  as  at  Economy  and  in  other 
German  communities,  they  habitually  use  both  wine  and 
beer. 

When  any  member  offends  against  the  rules  or  order  of  life 
of  the  society,  he  is  admonished  (ermahnf)  by  the  elders ; 
and  if  he  does  not  amend  his  ways,  expulsion  follows;  and 


50      Communistic  Societies*  of  the  United  States. 

here  as  elsewhere  in  the  communities  I  have  visited,  they  seem 
vigilantly  to  purge  the  society  of  improper  persons. 

The  following  twenty-one  "  Rules  for  Daily  Life,"  printed  in 
one  of  their  collections,  and  written  by  one  of  their  older  lead- 
ers, E.  L.  Gruber,  give,  I  think,  a  tolerably  accurate  notion  of 
their  views  of  the  conduct  of  life: 

"  I.  To  obey,  without  reasoning,  God,  and  through  God  our 
superiors. 

"  II.  To  study  quiet,  or  serenity,  within  and  without. 

"  III.  Within,  to  rule  and  master  your  thoughts. 

"  IY.  Without,  to  avoid  all  unnecessary  words,  and  still  to 
study  silence  and  quiet. 

"  Y.  To  abandon  self,  with  all  its  desires,  knowledge,  and 
power. 

"  YI.  Do  not  criticise  others,  either  for  good  or  evil,  neither 
to  judge  nor  to  imitate  them ;  therefore  contain  yourself,  remain 
at  home,  in  the  house  and  in  your  heart. 

"  VII.  Do  not  disturb  your  serenity  or  peace  of  mind — hence 
neither  desire  nor  grieve. 

"VIII.  Live  in  love  and  pity  toward  your  neighbor,  and 
indulge  neither  anger  nor  impatience  in  your  spirit. 

"  IX.  Be  honest,  sincere,  and  avoid  all  deceit  and  even  se- 
cretiveness. 

"  X.  Count  every  word,  thought,  and  work  as  done  in  the  im- 
mediate presence  of  God,  in  sleeping  and  waking,  eating,  drink- 
ing, etc.,  and  give  him  at  once  an  account  of  it,  to  see  if  all  is 
done  in  his  fear  and  love. 

"  XI.  Be  in  all  things  sober,  without  levity  or  laughter ;  and 
without  vain  and  idle  words,  works,  or  thoughts ;  much  less 
'heedless  or  idle. 

"  XII.  Never  think  or  speak  of  God  without  the  deepest  rev- 
erence, fear,  and  love,  and  therefore  deal  reverently  with  all 
spiritual  things. 

"XIII.  Bear  all  inner  and  outward  sufferings  in  silence, 


The  Amana  Community.  5 1 

complaining  only  to  God ;  and  accept  all  from  him  in  deepest 
reverence  and  obedience. 

"  XIY.  Notice  carefully  all  that  God  permits  to  happen  to 
you  in  your  inner  and  outward  life,  in  order  that  you  may  not 
fail  to  comprehend  his  will  and  to  be  led  by  it. 

"XV.  Have  nothing  to  do  with  unholy,  and  particularly 
with  needless  business  affairs. 

"XVI.  Have  no  intercourse  with  worldly -minded  men; 
never  seek  their  society ;  speak  little  with  them,  and  never 
without  need ;  and  then  not  without  fear  and  trembling. 

"  XVII.  Therefore,  what  you  have  to  do  with  such  men,  do 
in  haste;  do  not  waste  time  in  public  places  and  worldly  soci- 
ety, that  you  be  not  tempted  and  led  away. 

XVIII.  Fly  from  the  society  of  women-kind  as  much  as 
possible,  as  a  very  highly  dangerous  magnet  and  magical  fire. 

"XIX.  Avoid  obeisance  and  the  fear  of  men;  these  are 
dangerous  ways. 

"  XX.  Dinners,  weddings,  feasts,  avoid  entirely ;  at  the  best 
there  is  sin. 

"XXI.  Constantly  practice  abstinence  and  temperance,  so 
that  you  may  be  as  wakeful  after  eating  as  before." 

These  rules  may,  I  suppose,  be  regarded  as  the  ideal  stand- 
ard toward  which  a  pious  Inspirationist  looks  and  works.  Is 
it  not  remarkable  that  they  should  have  originated  and  found 
their  chief  adherents  among  peasants  and  poor  weavers  ? 

Their  usual  religious  meetings  are  held  on  Wednesday, 
Saturday,  and  Sunday  mornings,  and  every  evening.  On 
Saturday,  all  the  people  of  a  village  assemble  together  in  the 
church  or  meeting-house ;  on  other  days  they  meet  in  smaller 
rooms,  and  by  classes  or  orders. 

The  society  consists  of  three  of  these  orders — the  highest, 
the  middle,  and  the  lower,  or  children's  order.  In  the  latter 
fall  naturally  the  youth  of  both  sexes,  but  also  those  older  and 
married  persons  whose  religious  life  and  experience  are  not 


5  2       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

deep  enough  to  make  them  worthy  of  membership  in  the 
higher  orders. 

The  evening  meeting  opens  a  little  after  seven  o'clock.  It  is 
held  in  a  large  room  specially  maintained  for  this  purpose.  I 
accompanied  one  of  the  brethren,  by  permission,  to  these  meet- 
ings during  my  stay  at  Amana.  I  found  a  large,  low-ceiled 
room,  dimly  lighted  by  a  single  lamp  placed  on  a  small  table 
at  the  head  of  the  room,  and  comfortably  warmed  with  stoves. 
Benches  without  backs  were  placed  on  each  side  of  this  cham- 
ber ;  the  floor  was  bare,  but  clean  ;  and  hither  entered,  singly, 
or  by  twos  or  threes,  the  members,  male  and  female,  each  go- 
ing to  the  proper  place  without  noise.  The  men  sat  on  one 
side,  the  women  on  the  other.  At  the  table  sat  an  elderly 
man,  of  intelligent  face  and  a  look  of  some  authority.  Near 
him  were  two  or  three  others. 

When  all  had  entered  and  were  seated,  the  old  man  at  the 
table  gave  out  a  hymn,  reading  out  one  line  at  a  time ;  and 
after  two  verses  were  sung  in  this  way,  he  read  the  remaining 
ones.  Then,  after  a  moment  of  decorous  and  not  unimpres- 
sive silent  meditation,  all  at  a  signal  rose  and  kneeled  down 
at  their  places.  Hereupon  the  presiding  officer  uttered  a 
short  prayer  in  verse,  and  after  him  each  man  in  his  turn,  be- 
ginning with  the  elders,  uttered  a  similar  verse  of  prayer, 
usually  four,  and  sometimes  six  lines  long.  When  all  the  men 
and  boys  had  thus  prayed — and  their  little  verses  were  very 
pleasant  to  listen  to,  the  effect  being  of  childlike  simplicity— 
the  presiding  elder  closed  with  a  brief  extemporary  prayer, 
whereupon  all  arose. 

Then  he  read  some  verses  from  one  of  their  inspired  books, 
admonishing  to  a  good  life ;  and  also  a  brief  homily  from  one 
of  Christian  Metz's  inspired  utterances.  Thereupon  all  arose, 
and  stood  in  their  places  in  silence  for  a  moment;  and  then, 
in  perfect  order  and  silence,  and  with  a  kind  of  military  pre- 
cision, benchful  after  benchful  of  people  walked  softly  out  of 


The  Amana  Community.  53 

the  room.  The  women  departed  first ;  and  each  went  home,  I 
judge,  without  delay  or  tarrying  in  the  hall,  for  when  I  got 
out  the  hall  was  already  empty. 

The  next  night  the  women  prayed  instead  of  the  men,  the 
presiding  officer  conducting  the  meeting  as  before.  I  noticed 
that  the  boys  and  younger  men  had  their  places  on  the  front 
seats ;  and  the  whole  meeting  was  conducted  with  the  utmost 
reverence  and  decorum. 

On  Wednesday  and  Sunday  mornings  the  different  orders 
meet  at  the  same  hour,  each  in  its  proper  assembly-room. 
These  are  larger  than  those  devoted  to  the  evening  meetings. 
The  Wednesday -morning  meeting  began  at  half -past  seven, 
and  lasted  until  nine.  There  was,  as  in  the  evening  meetings, 
a  very  plain  deal  table  at  the  head,  and  benches,  this  time  with 
backs,  were  ranged  in  order,  the  sexes  sitting  by  themselves  as 
before ;  each  person  coming  in  with  a  ponderous  hymn-book, 
and  a  Bible  in  a  case.  The  meeting  opened  with  the  singing 
of  six  verses  of  a  hymn,  the  leader  reading  the  remaining 
verses.  Many  of  their  hymns  have  from  ten  to  fourteen 
verses.  Next  he  read  some  passages  from  one  of  the  inspira- 
tional utterances  of  Metz ;  after  which  followed  prayer,  each 
man,  as  in  the  evening  meetings,  repeating  a  little  supplicatory 
verse.  The  women  did  not  join  in  this  exercise. 

Then  the  congregation  got  out  their  Bibles,  the  leader  gave 
out  the  fifth  chapter  of  Ephesians,  and  each  man  read  a  verse 
in  his  turn;  then  followed  a  psalm;  and  the  women  read 
those  verses  which  remained  after  all  the  men  had  read. 
After  this  the  leader  read  some  further  passages  from  Metz. 
After  the  reading  of  the  Xew  Testament  chapter  and  the 
psalm,  three  of  the  leaders,  who  sat  near  the  table  at  the  head 
of  the  room,  briefly  spoke  upon  the  necessity  of  living  accord- 
ing to  the  words  of  God,  doing  good  works  and  avoiding  evil. 
Their  exhortations  were  very  simple,  and  without  any  attempt 
at  eloquence,  in  a  conversational  tone. 


The  Amana  Community.  55 

too,  any  disputes  which  may  have  occurred  are  brought  up 
and  healed,  and  an  effort  is  made  to  revive  religious  fervor  in 
the  hearts  of  all.  Not  unfrequently  the  examination  of  a  class 
is  adjourned  from  day  to  day,  because  they  are  found  to  be 
cold  and  unimpressible ;  and  I  notice  that  on  these  occa- 
sions the  young  people  in  particular  are  a  cause  of  much 
grief  and  trouble  on  account  of  their  perverse  hardness  of 
heart. 

The  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  their  greatest  relig- 
ious event.  It  is  held  only  when  the  "  inspired  instrument " 
directs  it,  which  may  not  happen  once  in  two  years ;  and  it  is 
thought  so  solemn  and  important  an  occasion  that  a  full  ac- 
count of  it  is  sometimes  printed  in  a  book.  I  have  one  such 
volume :  "  Das  Liebes-  und  Gedachtniszmahl  des  Leidens  und 
Sterbens  unsers  Herrn  und  Heilandes  Jesu  Christi,  wie  sol- 
ekes  von  dem  Herrn  durch  Sein  Wort  und  zeugnisz  angeJcun- 
digt,  angeordnet  und  gehalten  worden7  in  Vier  Abtheilungen, 
zu  Mittel  und  Nieder  Eben-Ezer,  im  Jahr  1855  "  (".The  Sup- 
per of  Love  and  Remembrance  of  the  suffering  and  death  of 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ :  How  it  was  announced, 
ordered,  and  held  by  his  word  and  witness,  in  four  parts,  in 
Middle  and  Lower  Eben-Ezer,  in  the  year  1855  ").  It  is  a 
neatly  printed  volume  of  284  pages. 

The  account  begins  with  the  announcement  of  the  Lord's 
command  :  "  Middle  Eben-Ezer,  April  21st,  1855,  Saturday,  in 
the  general  meeting,  in  the  beginning,  when  the  congregation 
was  assembled,  came  the  following  gracious  word  and  deter- 
mination of  the  Lord,  through  Brother  Chr.  Metz."  There- 
upon, after  some  words  of  preface,  the  "  instrument "  kneeled 
down,  the  congregation  also  kneeling,  and  said :  "  I  am  com- 
manded humbly  to  reveal,  according  to  the  sacred  and  loving 
conclusion,  that  you  are  to  celebrate  the  supper  of  love  and 
remembrance  in  the  presence  of  your  God.  The  beginning 
and  the  course  of  it  shall  be  as  before.  There  will  be  on  this 


56       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

occasion  humiliations  and  revelations,  if  in  any  the  true 
Worker  of  righteousness  and  repentance  has  not  been  allowed 
to  do  his  work.  The  Lord  will  make  a  representation  of  the 
lack  of  his  understanding  in  many  of  you ;  his  great  love  will 
come  to  light,  and  will  light  up  every  one."  After  more  of 
this  kind  of  address,  the  "  instrument "  said :  "  You  are  to  be- 
gin the  Lord's  Supper  on  Ascension-day,  make  ready  then  all 
your  hearts,  clean  out  all  filth,  all  that  is  rotten  and  stinks, 
all  sins  and  every  thing  idle  and  useless;  and  cherish  pious 
thoughts,  so  that  you  shall  put  down  the  flesh,  as  you  are  com- 
manded to,"  and  so  on. 

On  a  following  Sunday,  the  "  instrument "  recurred  to  the 
subject,  and  in  the  course  of  his  remarks  reproved  one  of  the 
elders  for  disobedience  to  the  Lord  and  resistance  to  grace,  and 
displaced  him  in  the  assembly,  calling  another  by  name  to  his 
place.  At  the  close,  he  spoke  thus,  evidently  in  the  name  and 
with  the  voice  of  God :  "  And  I  leave  it  to  you,  my  servants, 
to  take  out  of  the  middle  order  here  and  there  some  into  the 
first,  and  out  of  the  third  into  the  second,  but  not  according 
to  favor  and  prejudice,  but  according  to  their  grace  and  con- 
duct, of  which  you  are  to  take  notice." 

A  day  was  given  to  admonitions  and  preparation';  the  "  in- 
strument" speaking  not  only  to  the  congregation  in  general, 
in  the  morning  and  afternoon  meetings,  but  to  a  great  many 
in  particular — admonishing,  exhorting,  blaming,  encouraging 
them  by  name.  The  next  morning  there  was  a  renewal  of 
such  hortatory  remarks, with  singing  and  prayer;  and  in  the 
afternoon,  all  being  prepared,  the  elders  washed  the  feet  of  the 
brethren.  This  is  done  only  in  the  higher  orders. 

Thereupon  tables  are  brought  in,  and  bread  and  wine  are 
placed.  After  singing,  the  "  inspired  "  person  blesses  these, 
and  they  are  then  received  by  the  brethren  and  sisters  from 
the  hands  of  the  elders,  who  pronounce  the  customary  words 
of  Scripture. 


The  Amana  Community.  57 

This  being  accomplished,  the  assembly  temporarily  adjourns, 
and  persons  previously  appointed  for  this  office  spread  on  the 
tables  a  modest  supper  of  bread  and  cake,  coffee,  chocolate, 
and  a  few  other  articles  of  food,  and  to  this  all  sit  down  with 
solemn  joy.  At  the  conclusion  of  this  meal,  a  hymn  is  sung, 
and  the  assembly  retire  to  their  homes. 

When  the  three  regular  orders  have  gone  through  this  cele- 
bration, there  is  a  fourth,  consisting  of  children  under  sixteen 
years,  and  of  certain  adult  members  who  for  various  reasons 
have  been  thought  unworthy  to  partake  with  the  rest;  and 
these  also  go  through  a  thorough  examination. 

I  asked  one  of  their  leading  elders  whether  they  believed  in 
a  "  prayer-cure,"  explaining  what  the  Oneida  communists  un- 
derstand by  this  phrase.  He  replied,  "  No,  we  do  not  use 
prayer  in  this  way,  to  cure  disease.  But  it  is  possible.  But 
if  God  has  determined  death,  ten  doctors  can  not  help  a 
man." 

The  present  inspired  instrument  being  very  aged,  I  asked 
whether  another  was  ready  to  take  her  place.  They  said  No, 
no  one  had  yet  appeared ;  but  they  had  no  doubt  God  would 
call  some  one  to  the  necessary  office.  They  were  willing  to 
trust  him,  and  gave  themselves  no  trouble  about  it. 

It  remains  to  speak  of  their  literature. 

They  have  a  somewhat  ponderous  hymnology,  in  two  great 
volumes,  one  called  "  The  Yoice  from  Zion :  to  the  Praise  of  the 
Almighty,"  by  "John  William  Petersen  (A.D.  1698),"  printed 
at  Eben-Ezer,  N.  Y.,  in  1851,  and  containing  958  pages.  The 
hymns  are  called  Psalms,  and  are  not  in  rhyme.  They  are  to 
be  sung  in  a  kind  of  chant,  as  I  judge  from  the  music  prefixed 
to  them ;  and  are  a  kind  of  commentary  on  the  Scripture,  one 
part  being  taken  up  with  the  book  of  Revelation. 

The  other  volume  is  the  hymn-book  in  regular  use.  It  con- 
tains 1285  pages,  of  which  111  are  music — airs  to  which  the 
different  hymns  may  be  sung.  The  copy  I  have  is  of  the  third 

E 


58       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

edition,  and  bears  the  imprint,  "Amana,  Iowa,  1871."  Its 
title  is  "  Psalms  after  the  manner  of  David,  for  the  children 
of  Zion."  It  has  one  peculiarity  which  might  with  advantage 
be  introduced  in  other  hymn-books.  Occasional  verses  are 
marked  with  a  *,  and  it  is  recommended  to  the  reader  that 
these  be  taught  to  the  children  as  little  prayers.  In  practice, 
I  found  that  in  their  evening  meetings  the  grown  persons  as 
well  as  the  children  recited  these  simple  and  devotional  little 
verses  as  their  prayers :  surely  a  more  satisfactory  delivery  to 
them  and  the  congregation  than  rude  and  halting  attempts  at 
extemporary  utterance. 

Many  of  the  hymns  are  very  long,  having  from  twelve  to 
twenty-four  verses;  and  it  is  usual  at  their  meetings  to  sing 
three  or  four  verses  and  then  read  the  remainder.  They  dc 
not  sing  well ;  and  their  tunes — those  at  least  which  I  heard 
— are  slow,  and  apparently  in  a  style  of  music  now  disused  in 
our  churches.  The  hymns  are  printed  as  prose,  only  the  verses 
being  separated.  I  was  told  that  they  were  "  all  given  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,"  and  that  Christian  Metz  had  a  great  gift  of 
hymn-writing,  very  often,  at  home  or  elsewhere,  writing  down 
an  entire  hymn  at  one  sitting.  They  are  all  deeply  devotional 
in  spirit,  and  have  not  unfrequently  the  merit  of  great  sim- 
plicity and  a  pleasing  quaintness  of  expression,  of  which  I 
think  the  German  language  is  more  capable  than  our  ruder 
and  more  stubborn  English. 

Their  writers  are  greatly  given  to  rhyming.  Even  in  the 
inspirational  utterances  I  find  frequently  short  admonitory 
paragraphs  where  rude  rhymes  are  introduced.  Among  their 
books  is  one,  very  singular,  called  "  Innocent  Amusement " 
("  Unschuldiges  Zeitvertreib  "),  in  a  number  of  volumes  (I  saw 
the  fifth).  It  is  a  collection  of  verses,  making  pious  applica- 
tions of  many  odd  subjects.  Among  the  headings  I  found 
Cooking,  Bain,  Milk,  The  Ocean,  Temperance,  Salve,  Dinner, 
A  Mast,  Fog,  A  Net,  Pitch,  A  Rainbow,  A  Kitchen,  etc.,  etc. 


The  Amana  Community.  59 

It  is  a  mass  of  pious  doggerel,  founded  on  Scripture  and 
with  fanciful  additions. 

Another  is  called  "  Jesus's  ABC,  for  his  scholars,"  and  is 
also  in  rhyme.  Another  is  entitled  "  Rhymes  on  the  sufferings, 
death,  burial,  and  resurrection  of  Christ."  There  are  about 
twelve  hundred  pages  of  the  ABC  book. 

They  have  printed  also  a  miniature  Thomas  a  Kernpis,  "  for 
the  edification  of  children ;"  two  catechisms ;  a  little  work  en- 
titled "  Treasure  for  those  who  desire  God,"  and  other  works 
of  similar  character.  A  list,  not  complete,  but  containing  all 
the  books  I  have  been  able  to  collect,  will  be  found  in  the 
Bibliography  at  the  end  of  this  volume. 

At  the  end  of  the  Catechism  are  some  pages  of  rules  for  the 
conduct  of  children,  at  home,  in  church,  at  school,  during  play 
hours,  at  meals,  and  in  all  the  relations  of  their  lives.  Many 
of  these  rules  are  excellent,  and  the  whole  of  them  might  well 
be  added  to  the  children's  catechisms  in  use  in  the  churches. 
Piety,  orderly  habits,  obedience,  politeness,  cleanliness,  kind- 
ness to  others,  truthfulness,  cheerfulness,  etc.,  are  all  inculcated 
in  considerable  detail,  with  great  plainness  of  speech,  and  in 
sixty-six  short  paragraphs,  easily  comprehended  by  the  young- 
est children.  The  fifty-fourth  rule  shows  the  care  with  which 
they  guard  the  intercourse  of  the  sexes :  "  Have  no  pleasure  in 
violent  games  or  plays;  do  not  wait  on  the  road  to  look  at 
quarrels  or  fights ;  do  not  keep  company  with  bad  children, 
for  there  you  will  learn  only  wickedness.  Also,  do  not  play 
with  children  of  the  other  sex" 


THE  HARMONY  SOCIETY, 


AT 


ECONOMY,  3P.A.. 


THE    HARMONY    SOCIETY. 


I. — ECONOMY  IN  1874. 

TRAVELING  from  Cleveland  to  Pittsburgh  by  rail,  yon  strike 
the  Ohio  Kiver  at  Wellsville ;  and  the  railroad  runs  thence, 
for  forty-eight  miles,  to  Pittsburgh,  along  the  river  bank,  and 
through  the  edge  of  a  country  rich  in  coal,  oil,  potters'  clay, 
limestone,  and  iron,  and  supporting  a  number  of  important 
manufactures. 

To  a  traveler  in  search  of  the  Rappist  or  Harmony  settle- 
ment at  Economy,  the  names  of  the  towns  along  here  seem  to 
tell  of  the  overshadowing  influence  of  these  communists ;  for, 
passing  Liverpool,  you  come  to  Freedom,  Jethro  (whose  houses 
are  both  heated  and  lighted  with  gas  from  a  natural  spring 
near  by),  Industry,  and  Beaver ;  you  smile  at  the  sign  of  the 
"  Golden  Rule  Distillery ;"  and  you  wonder  at  the  broken 
fences,  unpainted  houses,  and  tangled  and  weed  -  covered 
grounds,  and  that  general  air  of  dilapidation  which  curses  a 
country  producing  petroleum  and  bituminous  coal. 

Presently,  however,  you  strike  into  what  is  evidently  a  large 
and  well-kept  estate :  high  and  solid  fences ;  fields  without 
weeds,  and  with  clean  culture  or  smooth  and  rich  grass ;  and 
if  you  ask  the  conductor,  he  will  tell  you  that  for  some  miles 
here  the  land  is  owned  by  the  "  Economites ;"  and  that  the 
town  or  village  of  Economy  lies  among  these  neatly  kept  fields, 
but  out  of  sight  of  the  railroad  on  the  top  of  the  steep  bluff. 

Economy  has,  in  truth,  one  of  the  loveliest  situations  on  the 
Ohio  River.  It  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  rich  plain,  with  swell- 


64       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

ing  hills  behind,  protecting  it  from  cold  winds  in  winter ;  a 
magnificent  reach  of  the  river  in  view  below ;  and  tall  hills  on 
the  opposite  shore  to  give  a  picturesque  outlook.  The  town 
begins  .on  the  edge  of  the  bluff ;  and  under  the  shade-trees 
planted  there  benches  are  arranged,  where  doubtless  the  Har- 
monists take  their  comfort  on  summer  evenings,  in  view  of 
the  river  below  them  and  of  the  village  on  the  opposite  shore. 
Streets  proceed  at  right-angles  with  the  river's  course;  and 
each  street  is  lined  with  neat  frame  or  brick  houses,  surround- 
ing a  square  in  such  a  manner  that  within  each  household  has 
a  sufficient  garden.  The  broad  streets  have  neat  foot-pave- 
ments of  brick;  the  houses,  substantially  built  but  unpreten- 
tious, are  beautified  by  a  singular  arrangement  of  grape-vines, 
which  are  trained  to  espaliers  fixed  to  cover  the  space  between 
the  top  of  the  lower  and  the  bottom  of  the  upper  windows. 
This  manner  of  training  vines  gives  the  town  quite  a  peculiar 
look,  as  though  the  houses  had  been  crowned  with  green. 

As  you  walk  through  the  silent  streets,  and  pass  the  large  As- 
sembly Hall,  the  church,  and  the  hotel,  it  will  occur  to  you 
that  these  people  had,  when  they  founded  their  place,  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  sensible  architect,  for,  while  there  is  not  the  least 
pretense,  all  the  building  is  singularly  solid  and  honest ;  and 
in  the  larger  houses  the  roof -lines  have  been  broken  and  man- 
aged with  considerable  skill,  so  as  to  -produce  a  very  pleasing 
and  satisfactory  effect.  Moreover,  the  color  of  the  bricks  used 
in  building  has  chanced  to  be  deep  and  good,  which  is  no 
slight  advantage  to  the  place. 

Neatness  and  a  Sunday  quiet  are  the  prevailing  character- 
istics of  Economy.  Once  it  was  a  busy  place,  for  it  had  cot- 
ton, silk,  and  woolen  factories,  a  brewery,  and  other  indus- 
tries ;  but  the  most  important  of  these  have  now  ceased ;  and 
as  you  walk  along  the  quiet,  shady  streets,  you  meet  only  oc- 
casionally some  stout,  little  old  man,  in  a  short  light-blue  jacket 
and  a  tall  and  very  broad-brimmed  hat,  looking  amazingly 


ASSEMBLY  HALL— ECONOMY. 


CHURCH  AT  ECONOMY. 


The  Harmony  Society.  65 

like  Hendrick  Hudson's  men  in  the  play  of  Eip  Yan  Winkle ; 
or  some  comfortable-looking  dame,  in  Norman  cap  and  stuff 
gown;  whose  polite  "good -day"  to  you,  in  German  or  En- 
glish as  it  may  happen,  is  not  unmixed  with  surprise  at  sight 
of  a  strange  face ;  for,  as  you  will  presently  discover  at  the 
hotel,  visitors  are  not  nowadays  frequent  in  Economy. 

The  hotel  is  one  of  the  largest  houses  in  the  place ;  it  is  of 
two  stories,  with  spacious  bed-chambers,  high  ceilings,  roomy 
fire-places,  large  halls,  and  a  really  fine  dining-room,  all  scrup- 
ulously clean.  It  was  once,  before  the  days  of  railroads,  a  fa- 
vorite stopping-place  on  one  of  the  main  stage  routes  out  of 
Pittsburgh ;  in  the  well-built  stable  and  barns  opposite  there 
was  room  for  twenty  or  thirty  horses ;  the  dining-room  would 
seat  a  hundred  people ;  and  here  during  many  years  was  a 
favorite  winter  as  well  as  summer  resort  for  Pittsburghers, 
and  an  important  source  of  income  to  the  Economists. 

When  I  for  the  first  time  entered  the  sitting-room  on  a 
chilly  December  morning,  the  venerable  but  active  landlord 
was  dusting  chairs  and  tables,  and  looked  up  in  some  amaze- 
ment at  the  intrusion  of  a  traveler.  "  I  can  stay  here,  I  sup- 
pose," said  I,  by  way  of  introduction ;  and  was  answered : 
"  That  depends  upon  how  long  you  want  to  stay.  We  don't 
take  people  to  board  here."  My  assurance  that  I  meant  to  re- 
main but  two  or  three  days,  and  that  I  had  been  recommended 
by  Mr.  Henrici,  the  head  of  the  society,  secured  me  a  room ; 
and  the  warning,  as  I  went  out  for  a  walk,  that  I  must  be  in 
by  half-past  eleven,  promptly,  to  dine ;  and  by  half-past  four 
for  supper,  because  other  people  had  to  eat  after  me,  and 
ought  not  to  be  kept  waiting  by  reason  of  my  carelessness. 
"  For  which  reason,"  added  the  landlord,  "  it  would  be  well 
for  you  to  come  in  and  be  at  hand  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before 
the  times  I  have  mentioned."  When  I  had  dined  and  supped 
and  slept,  I  saw  what  a  loss  to  Pittsburghers  was  the  closing 
of  the  Economy  hotel ;  for  the  Harmonists  live  well,  and  are 


66       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

substantial  eaters  in  their  German  fashion.  Nor  was  any  cer- 
emony omitted  because  of  the  fewness  of  guests ;  and  old 
Joseph,  the  butler  and  head-waiter,  who,  as  he  told  me,  came 
to  serve  here  fifty  years  ago,  and  is  now  seventy-eight  years 
old,  attended  upon  my  meals  arrayed  in  a  scrupulously  white 
apron,  ordered  the  lass  who  was  his  subordinate,  and  occa- 
sionally condescended  to  laugh  at  my  jokes,  as  befitted  his 
place,  with  as  much  precision  and  dignity  as  when,  thirty  or 
forty  years  ago,  he  used  to  serve  a  houseful  of  hungry  trav- 
elers. 

Later  in  the  afternoon  I  discovered  the  meaning  of  my 
landlord's  warnings  as  to  punctuality,  as  well  as  the  real  use 
of  the  "  Economy  Hotel."  As  I  sat  before  the  fire  in  my  own 
room  after  supper,  I  heard  the  door-bell  ring  with  a  frequency 
as  though  an  uncommon  number  of  travelers  were  applying 
for  lodgings ;  and  going  down  into  the  sitting-room  about 
seven  o'clock,  I  discovered  there  an  extraordinary  collection 
of  persons  ranged  around  the  fire,  and  toasting  their  more  or 
less  dilapidated  boots.  These  were  men  in  all  degrees  of  rag- 
gedness ;  men  with  one  eye,  or  lame,  or  crippled — tramps,  in 
fact,  beggars  for  supper  and  a  night's  lodging.  They  sat  there 
to  the  number  of  twenty,  half  naked  many  of  them,  and  not  a 
bit  ashamed ;  with  carpet-bags  or  without ;  with  clean  or  dirty 
faces  and  clothes  as  it  might  happen ;  but  all  hungry,  as  I 
presently  saw,  when  a  table  was  drawn  out,  about  which  they 
gathered,  giving  their  names  to  be  taken  down  on  a  register, 
while  to  them  came  a  Harmonist  brother  with  a  huge  tray  full 
of  tins  filled  with  coffee,  and  another  with  a  still  bigger  tray  of 
bread. 

Thereupon  these  wanderers  fell  to,  and  having  eaten  as 
much  bread  and  coffee  as  they  could  hold,  they  were  consigned 
to  a  house  a  few  doors  away,  peeping  in  at  whose  windows  by 
and  by,  I  saw  a  large,  cheerful  coal  fire,  and  beds  for  the  whole 
company. 


The  Harmony  Society.  67 

"  You  see,  after  you  have  eaten,  the  table  must  be  cleared, 
and  then  we  eat ;  and  then  come  these  people,  who  have  also 
to  be  fed,  so  that,  unless  we  hurry,  the  women  are  belated  with 
their  work,"  explained  the  landlord  of  this  curious  inn  to  me. 

"Is  this,  then,  a  constant  occurrence?"  I  asked  in  some 
amazement;  and  was  told  that  they  feed  here  daily  from  fif- 
teen to  twenty-five  such  tramps,  asking  no  questions,  except 
that  the  person  shall  not  have  been  a  regular  beggar  from  the 
society.  A  constant  provision  of  coffee  and  bread  is  made  for 
them,  and  the  house  set  apart  for  their  lodging  has  bed  ac- 
commodations for  twenty  men.  They  are  expected  to  wash 
at  the  stable  next  morning,  and  thereupon  receive  a  breakfast 
of  bread,  meat,  and  coffee,  and  are  suffered  to  go  on  their  way. 
Occasionally  the  very  destitute,  if  they  seem  to  be  deserving, 
receive  also  clothing. 

"  But  are  you  not  often  imposed  upon  ?"  I  asked. 

"  Yes,  probably ;  but  it  is  better  to  give  to  a  dozen  worth- 
less ones  than  to  refuse  one  deserving  man  the  cup  and  loaf 
which  we  give,"  was  the  reply. 

The  tramps  themselves  took  this  benevolence  apparently  as 
a  matter  of  course.  They  were  quiet  enough ;  some  of  them 
looked  like  decent  men  out  of  work,  as  indeed  all  professed  to 
be  going  somewhere  in  search  of  employment.  But  many  of 
them  had  the  air  of  confirmed  loafers,  and  some  I  should  not 
have  liked  to  meet  alone  on  the  road  after  dark. 

Economy  is  the  home  of  the  "Harmony  Society,"  better 
known  to  the  outside  world  as  the  followers  of  Rapp.  It  is  a 
town  of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  houses,  very  regularly 
built,  well-drained,  and  paved ;  it  has  water  led  from  a  reservoir 
in  the  hills,  and  flowing  into  troughs  conveniently  placed  in 
every  street;  abundant  shade-trees;  a  church,  an  assembly 
hall,  a  store  which  supplies  also  to  some  extent  the  neighbor- 
ing country ;  different  factories,  and  a  number  of  conveniences 
which  villages  of  its  size  are  too  often  without.  Moreover,  it 


68       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

contains  a  pleasant  pleasure-garden,  and  is  surrounded  by  fine, 
productive  orchards  and  by  well-tilled  fields. 

At  present  Economy  is  inhabited  by  all  that  remain  of  the 
society  which  was  founded  by  George  Rapp  in  1805.  These 
number  one  hundred  and  ten  persons,  most  of  whom  are  aged, 
and  none,  I  think,  under  forty.  Besides  these,  who  are  the 
owners  of  the  place  and  of  much  property  elsewhere,  there  are 
twenty-five  or  thirty  children  of  various  ages,  adopted  by  the 
society  and  apprenticed  to  it,  and  an  equal  number  living  there 
with  parents  who  are  hired  laborers;  of  these  hired  laborers, 
men  and  women,  there  are  about  one  hundred.  The  whole 
population  is  German ;  and  German  is  the  language  one  com- 
monly hears,  and  in  which  on  Sunday  worship  is  carried  on. 
Nevertheless  all  the  people  speak  English  also. 

The  Harmonists  themselves  are  sturdy,  healthy  -  looking 
men  and  women,  most  of  them  gray  haired ;  with  an  air  of 
vigorous  independence;  conspicuously  kind  and  polite;  well- 
fed  and  well-preserved.  As  I  examined  their  faces  on  Sun- 
day in  church,  they  struck  me  as  a  remarkably  healthy  and 
well-satisfied  collection  of  old  men  and  women ;  by  no  means 
dull,  and  very  decidedly  masters  of  their  lives.  Their  work- 
ing dress  has  for  its  peculiarity  the  roundabout  or  jacket  I 
have  before  mentioned;  on  Sunday  they  wear  long  coats. 
The  women  look  very  well  indeed  in  their  Norman  caps ; 
arid  their  dress,  wholesome  and  sensible,  is  not  in  any  way 
odd  or  inappropriate.  Indeed,  when  Miss  Rapp,  the  grand- 
daughter of  the  founder  of  the  society,  walked  briskly  into 
church  on  Sunday,  her  bright,  kindly  face  was  so  well  set 
off  by  the  cap  she  wore  that  she  seemed  quite  an  admirable 
object  to  me ;  and  I  thought  no  head-dress  in  the  world  could 
so  well  become  an  elderly  lady. 


The  Harmony  Society.  69 


II. — HISTORICAL. 

George  Rapp,  founder  and  until  his  death  in  1847  head  of 
the  "  Harmony  Society,"  was  born  in  October,  1757,  at  Iptin- 
gen  in  Wiirtemberg.  He  was  the  son  of  a  small  farmer  and 
vine-dresser,  and  received  such  a  moderate  common-school 
education  -as  the  child  of  parents  in  such  circumstances  would 
naturally  receive  at  that  time  in  South  Germany.  When  he 
had  been  taught  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and  geography, 
he  left  school  and  assisted  his  father  on  the  farm,  working  as 
a  weaver  during  the  winter  months.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
six  he  married  a  farmer's  daughter,  who  bore  him  a  son,  John, 
and  a  daughter,  Rosina,  both  of  whom  later  became  with  him 
members  of  the  society. 

Rapp  appears  to  have  been  from  his  early  youth  fond  of 
reading,  and  of  a  reflective  turn  of  mind.  Books  were  proba- 
bly not  plentiful  in  his  father's  house,  and  he  became  a  student 
of  the  Bible,  and  began  presently  to  compare  the  condition  of 
the  people  among  whom  he  lived  with  the  social  order  laid 
down  and  described  in  the  New  Testament.  He  became  dis- 
satisfied especially  with  the  lifeless  condition  of  the  churches ; 
and  in  the  year  1787,  when  he  was  thirty,  he  had  evidently 
found  others  who  held  with  him,  for  he  began  to  preach  to  a 
small  congregation  of  friends  in  his  own  house  on  Sundays. 
The  clergy  resented  this  interference  with  their  office,  and  per- 
secuted Rapp  and  his  adherents ;  they  were  fined  and  im- 
prisoned ;  and  this  proved  to  be,  as  usual,  the  best  way  to  in- 
crease their  numbers  and  to  confirm  their  dislike  of  the  pre- 
vailing order  of  things.  They  were  denounced  as  "  Separatists,'' 
and  had  the  courage  to  accept  the  name. 

Rapp  taught  his  followers,  I  am  told,  that  they  were  in  all 
things  to  obey  the  laws,  to  be  peaceable  and  quiet  subjects,  and 
to  pay  all  their  taxes,  those  to  the  Church  as  well  as  to  the 


70     '  Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

State.  But  he  insisted  on  their  right  to  believe  what  they 
pleased  and  to  go  to  church  where  they  thought  it  best.  This 
was  a  tolerably  impregnable  platform. 

In  the  course  of  six  years,  with  the  help  of  the  persecutions 
of  the  clergy,  Rapp  had  gathered  around  him  not  less  than 
three  hundred  families;  and  had  hearers  and  believers  at  a 
distance  of  twenty  miles  from  his  own  house.  He  appears  to 
have  labored  so  industriously  on  the  farm  as  to  accumulate  a 
little  property,  and  in  1803  his  adherents  determined  upon  emi- 
grating in  a  body  to  America,  where  they  wTere  sure  of  free- 
dom to  worship  God  after  their  own  desires. 

Rapp  sailed  in  that  year  for  Baltimore,  accompanied  by  his 
son  John  and  two  other  persons.  After  looking  about  in 
Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio,  they  concluded  to  buy  five 
thousand  acres  of  wild  land  about  twenty-five  miles  north 
of  Pittsburgh,  in  the  valley  of  the  Connoquenessing.  Fred- 
erick (Reichert)  Rapp,  an  adopted  son  of  George  Rapp,  evi- 
dently a  man  of  uncommon  ability  and  administrative  talent, 
had  been  left  in  charge  in  Germany ;  and  had  so  far  perfected 
the  necessary  arrangements  for  emigration  that  no  time  was 
lost  in  moving,  as  soon  as  Rapp  gave  notice  that  he  had  found 
a  proper  locality  for  settlement.  On  the  4th  of  July,  1804, 
the  ship  Aurora  from  Amsterdam  landed  three  hundred  of 
Rapp's  people  in  Baltimore ;  and  six  weeks  later  three  hundred 
more  were  landed  in  Philadelphia.  The  remainder,  coming 
in  another  ship,  were  drawn  off  by  ITaller,  one  of  Rapp's  travel- 
ing companions,  to  settle  in  Ly coming  County,  Pennsylvania. 

The  six  hundred  souls  who  thus  remained  to  Rapp  appear 
to  have  been  mainly,  and  indeed  with  few  exceptions,  of  the 
peasant  and  mechanic  class.  There  were  among  them,  I  have 
been  told,  a  few  of  moderately  good  education,  and  presuma- 
bly of  somewhat  higher  social  standing  than  the  great  body ; 
there  were  a  few  who  had  considerable  property,  for  emigrants 
in  those  days.  All  were  thrifty,  and  few  were  destitute.  It 


The  Harmony  Society.  71 

is  probable  that  they  had  determined  in  Germany  to  establish 
a  community  of  goods,  in  accordance  with  their  understanding 
of  the  social  theory  of  Jesus ;  but  for  the  present  each  family 
retained  its  property. 

Rapp  met  them  on  their  arrival,  and  settled  them  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania ;  withdrawing  a  cer- 
tain number  of  the  ablest  mechanics  and  laborers  to  proceed 
with  him  to  the  newly  purchased  land,  where  he  and  they 
spent  a  toilsome  fall  and  winter  in  preparing  habitations  for 
the  remainder;  and  on  the  15th  of  February,  1805,  these,  and 
such  as  they  could  so  early  in  the  season  gather  with  them, 
formally  and  solemnly  organized  themselves  into  the  "Har- 
mony Society,"  agreeing  to  throw  all  their  possessions  into  a 
common  fund,  to  adopt  a  uniform  and  simple  dress  and  style 
of  house ;  to  keep  thenceforth  all  things  in  common ;  and  to 
labor  for  the  common  good  of  the  whole  body.  Later  in  the 
spring  they  were  joined  by  fifty  additional  families ;  and  thus 
they  finally  began  with  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
families,  or,  as  I  am  told,  less  than  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
men,  women,  and  children. 

Rapp  was  then  forty-eight  years  of  age.  He  was,  accord- 
ing to  the  best  accounts  I  have  been  able  to  gather,  a  man 
of  robust  frame  and  sound  health,  with  great  perseverance, 
enterprise,  and  executive  ability,  and  remarkable  common- 
sense.  It  was  fortunate  for  the  community  that  its  members 
were  all  laboring  men.  In  the  first  year  they  erected  be- 
tween forty  and  fifty .  log-houses,  a  church  and  school-house, 
grist-mill,  barn,  and  some  workshops,  and  cleared  one  hundred 
and  fifty  acres  of  land.  In  the  following  year  they  cleared 
four  hundred  acres  more,  and  built  a  saw-mill,  tannery,  and 
storehouse,  and  planted  a  small  vineyard.  A  distillery  was 
also  a  part  of  this  year's  building ;  and  it  is  odd  to  read  that 
the  Harmonists,  who  have  aimed  to  do  all  things  well,  were 
famous  among  Western  men  for  many  years  for  the  excellence 

F 


72       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

of  the  whisky  they  made;  of  which,  however,  they  always 
used  very  sparingly  themselves.  Among  their  crops  in  suc- 
ceeding years  were  corn,  wheat,  rye,  hemp,  and  flax ;  wool  from' 
merino  sheep,  which  they  were  the  first  in  that  part  of  Penn- 
sylvania to  own ;  and  poppies,  from  which  they  made  sweet- 
oil.  They  did  not  rest  until  they  had  established  also  a  woolen- 
mill.  It  was  a  principle  with  Rapp  that  the  society  should, 
as  far  as  possible,  produce  and  make  every  thing  it  used ;  and 
in  the  early  days,  I  am  told,  they  bought  very  little  indeed  of 
provisions  or  clothing,  having  then  but  small  means. 

Rapp  was,  with  the  help  of  his  adopted  son,  the  organizer 
of  the  community's  labor,  appointing  foremen  in  each  depart- 
ment; he  planned  their  enterprises — but  he  was  also  their 
preacher  and  teacher;  and  he  taught  them  that  their  main 
duty  was  to  live  a  sincerely  and  rigidly  religious  life;  that 
they  were  not  to  labor  for  wealth,  or  look  forward  anxiously 
for  prosperity ;  that  the  coming  of  the  Lord  was  near,  and  for 
this  they  were  waiting,  as  his  chosen  ones  separated  from  the 
world. 

At  this  time  they  still  lived  in  families,  and  encouraged,  or 
at  any  rate  did  not  discourage,  marriage.  Among  the  mem- 
bers who  married  between  1805  and  1807  was  John  Rapp,  the 
founder's  son.  and  the  father  of  Miss  Gertrude  Rapp,  who  still 
lives  at  Economy ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  elder  Rapp 
performed  the  marriage  ceremony.  During  the  year  1807, 
however,  a  deep  religious  fervor  pervaded  the  society ;  and  a 
remarkable  result  of  this  "  revival  of  religion "  was  the  deter- 
mination of  most  of  the  members  to  conform  themselves  more 
closely  in  several  ways  to  what  they  believed  to  be  the  spirit 
and  commands  of  Jesus.  Among  other  matters,  they  wrere 
persuaded  in  their  own  minds  that  it  was  best  to  cease  to  live 
in  the  married  state.  I  have  been  assured  by  older  members 
of  the  society,  who  have,  as  they  say,  often  heard  the  whole  of 
this  period  described  by  those  who  were  actors  in  it,  that  this 


The  Harmony  Society.  73 

determination  to  refrain  from  marriage  and  from  married  life 
originated  among  the  younger  members ;  and  that,  though  "Fa- 
ther Rapp  "  was  not  averse  to  this  growth  of  asceticism,  he  did 
not  eagerly  encourage  it,  but  warned  his  people  not  to  act 
rashly  in  so  serious  and  difficult  a  matter,  but  to  proceed  with 
great  caution,  and  determine  nothing  without  careful  counsel 
together.  At  the  same  time  he,  I  am  told,  gave  it  as  his  own 
conviction  that  the  unmarried  is  the  higher  and  holier  estate. 
In  short,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  he  managed  in  this 
matter,  as  he  appears  to  have  done  in  others,  with  great  pru- 
dence and  judgment.  He  himself,  and  his  son,  John  Rapp, 
set  an  example  which  the  remainder  of  the  society  quickly 
followed ;  thenceforth  no  more  marriages  were  contracted  in 
Harmony,  and  no  more  children  were  born. 

A  certain  number  of  the  younger  people,  feeling  no  voca- 
tion for  a  celibate  life,  at  this  time  withdrew  from  the  so- 
ciety. The  remainder  faithfully  ceased  from  conjugal  inter-' 
course.  "Husbands  and  wives  were  not  required  to  live  in 
different  houses,  but  occupied,  as  before,  the  same  dwelling, 
with  their  children,  only  treating  each  other  as  brother  and 
sister  -in  Christ,  and  remembering  the  precept  of  the  apostle : 
"  This  I  say,  brethren,  the 'time  is  short ;  it  remaineth  that  both 
they  that  have  wives  be  as  though  they  had  none,"  etc.  These 
are  the  words  of  one  of  the  older  members  to  the  Reverend 
Dr.  Aaron  Williams,  from  whose  interesting  account  of  the 
Harmony  Society  I  have  taken  a  number  of  facts,  being  refer- 
red to  it  by  Mr.  Henrici,  the  present  head  of  Economy.  The 
same  person  added :  "  The  burden  was  easier  to  bear,  because 
it  became  general  throughout  the  whole  community,  and  all 
bore  their  share  alike."  Another  member  wrote  in  1862: 
"  Convinced  of  the  truth  and  holiness  of  our  purpose,  we  volun- 
tarily and  unanimously  adopted  celibacy,  altogether  from  re- 
ligious motives,  in  order  to  withdraw  our  love  entirely  from 
the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  which,  with  the  help  of  God  and  much 


74       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

prayer  and  spiritual  warfare,  we  have  succeeded  well  in  doing 
now  for  fifty  years." 

Surely  so  extraordinary  a  resolve  was  never  before  carried 
out  with  so  simple  and  determined  a  spirit.  Among  most 
people  it  would  have  been  thought  necessary,  or  at  least  pru- 
dent, to  separate  families,  and  to  adopt  other  safeguards 
against  temptation ;  but  the  good  Harmonists  did  and  do  noth- 
ing of  the  kind.  "What  kind  of  watch  or  safeguard  did  or 
do  you  keep  over  the  intercourse  of  the  sexes,"  I  asked  in 
Economy,  and  received  for  reply,  "  None  at  all ;  it  would  be 
of  no  use.  If  you  have  to  watch  people,  you  had  better  give 
them  up.  We  have  always  depended  upon  the  strength  of  our 
religious  convictions,  and  upon  prayer  and  a  Christian  spirit." 

"  Do  you  believe  the  celibate  life  to  be  healthful  ?"  I  asked ; 
and  the  reply  was,  "  Decidedly  so ;  almost  all  our  people  have 
lived  to  a  hale  old  age.  Father  liapp  himself  died  at  ninety ; 
and  no  doubt  many  of  our  members  would  have  lived  longer 
than  they  did,  had  it  not  been  for  the  hardships  they  suffered 
in  Indiana,  where  we  lived  in  a  malarious  region."  I  must 
add  my  own  testimony  that  the  Harmonists  now  living  are 
almost  without  exception  stout,  well-built,  hearty  people,  the 
women  as  well  as  the  men. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  celibate  life  was  adopted,  the 
community  agreed  to  cease  using  tobacco  in  every  form — a 
deprivation  which  these  Germans  must  have  felt  almost  as  se- 
verely as  the  abandonment  of  conjugal  joys. 

The  site  of  the  Pennsylvania  settlement  proved  to  have  been 
badly  chosen  in  two  respects.  It  had  no  water  communica- 
tion with  the  outer  world ;  and  it  was  unfavorable  to  the  growth 
of  the  vine.  In  1814,  after  proper  discussion,  the  society  de- 
termined to  seek  a  more  desirable  spot ;  and  purchased  thirty 
thousand  acres  of  land  in  Posey  County,  Indiana,  in  the  Wa- 
bash  valley.  Thither  one  hundred  persons  proceeded  in  June, 
1814,  to  prepare  a  place  for  the  remainder ;  and  by  the  summer 


The  Harmony  Society.  75 

of  1815  the  whole  colony  was  in  its  new  home,  having  sold 
six  thousand  acres  of  land,  with  all  their  valuable  improve- 
ments, in  their  old  home,  for  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  price  they  received  is  said  to  have  been,  and  no  doubt 
was,  very  much  below  .the  real  value  of  the  property.  It  is 
impossible  to  sell  off  a  large  and  expensively  improved  estate 
like  theirs  all  at  once.  It  is  probably  true  that  the  machinery 
and  buildings  were  worth  all  they  received  for  the  whole  prop- 
erty; and  it  would  not  be  an  overestimate  to  give  the  real 
value  of  what  they  sold  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars.  They  had  begun,  ten  years  before,  with  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  families ;  as  after  the  second  year  they  had 
bred  no  children,  and  as  they  then  lost  some  members  who  left 
on  account  of  their  aversion  to  a  celibate  life,  it  is  probable 
that  they  had  not  increased  in  numbers.  If  they  had  property 
worth  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  they  would 
then  Have  been  able  to  divide,  at  the  end  of  ten  years,  at 
the  rate  of  twelve  hundred  dollars  to  each  head  of  a  family— 
a  considerable  sum,  if  we  remember  that  they  began  with 
probably  less  than  five  hundred  dollars  for  each  family ; 
and  had  not  only  lived  comfortably  for  the  greater  part  of 
ten  years,  but  enjoyed  society,  had  a  good  school  for  their 
children,  a  church,  and  all  the  moral  and  civil  safeguards 
created  by  and  incident  to  a  well-settled  community  or  town. 
Setting  aside  these  safeguards  and  enjoyments  of  a  thoroughly 
organized  society,  it  seems  to  me  doubtful  if  the  same  number 
of  families,  settling  with  narrow  means  at  random  in  the  wil- 
derness, each  independently  of  the  others,  could  at  that  period, 
before  railroads  were  built,  have  made  as  good  a  showing  in 
mere  pecuniary  return  in  the  same  time.  So  far,  then,  the 
Harmony  Society  would  seem  to  have  made  a  pecuniary  suc- 
cess— a  fact  of  which  they  may  have  made  but  little  account, 
but  which  is  important  to  a  general  and  independent  consider- 
ation of  communistic  experiments. 


76       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  Wabash  they  rapidly  built  up  a  town ;  but,  possess- 
ing now  both  experience  and  some  capital,  they  erected  larger 
factories,  and  rapidly  extended  their  business  in  every  depart- 
ment. "  Harmony,"  as  they  called  the  new  town,  became  an 
important  business  centre  for  a  considerable  region.  They 
sold  their  products  and  manufactured  goods  in  branch  stores 
as  well  as  at  Harmony ;  they  increased  in  wealth ;  and,  what 
was  of  greater  importance  to  them,  they  received  some  large 
accessions  of  members  from  Germany — friends  and  relatives 
of  the  founders  of  the  colony.  In  1817  one  hundred  and  thirty 
persons  came  over  at  one  time  from  Wiirtemberg.  I  was  told 
that  before  they  left  Indiana  they  had  increased  to  between 
seven  and  eight  hundred  members. 

"Father  Rapp"  appears  to  have  guided  his  people  wisely. 
He  continued  to  exhort  them  not  to  care  overmuch  for  riches, 
but  to  use  their  wealth  as  having  it  not ;  and  in  1818,  "  for 
the  purpose  of  promoting  greater  harmony  and  equality  be- 
tween the  original  members  and  those  who  had  come  in  re- 
cently," a  notable  thing  was  done  at  Rapp's  suggestion.  Orig- 
inally a  book  had  been  kept,  in  which  was  written  down  what 
each  member  of  the  society  had  contributed  to  the  common 
stock.  This  book  was  now  brought  out  and  by  unanimous 
consent  burned,  so  that  no  record  should  thenceforward  show 
what  any  one  had  contributed. 

In  1824  they  removed  once  more.  They  sold  the  town  of 
Harmony  and  twenty  thousand  acres  of  land  to  Robert  Owen, 
who  settled  upon  it  his  New  Lanark  colony  when  he  took  pos- 
session. Owen  paid  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars— 
not  nearly  the  value  of  the  property,  it  is  said ;  but  the  Har- 
monists had  suffered  from  fever  and  ague  and  unpleasant 
neighbors,  and  were  determined  to  remove.  They  then  bought 
the  property  they  still  hold  at  Economy,  and  in  1825  removed 
to  this  their  new  and  final  home.  One  of  the  older  members 
told  me  that  the  first  detachment  which  came  up  from  Indiana 


The  Harmony  Society.  77 

consisted  of  ninety  men,  mechanics  and  farmers;  and  these 
"  made  the  work  fly."  They  laid  out  the  town,  cleared  the  tim- 
ber from  the  streets  and  house  places ;  and  during  some  time 
completed  a  log-house  every  day.  Many  of  these  log-cabins 
are  still  standing,  but  are  no  longer  used  as  residences.  The 
first  church,  now  used  as  a  storehouse,  was  a  log-house  of  un- 
commonly large  dimensions. 

I  think  it  probable,  from  what  I  have  heard  from  the  older 
members,  that  when  they  were  comfortably  settled  at  Economy, 
the  Harmony  Society  was  for  some  years  in  its  most  flourish- 
ing condition.  All  had  come  on  together  from  Indiana ;  and 
all  were  satisfied  with  the  beauty  of  the  new  home.  Those 
who  had  suffered  from  malarious  fevers  here  rapidly  recovered. 
The  vicinity  to  Pittsburgh,  and  cheap  water  communication, 
encouraged  them  in  manufacturing.  Economy  lay  upon  the 
main  stage-road,  and  was  thus  an  important  and  presently  a 
favorite  stopping -place ;  the  colonists  found  kindly  neigh- 
bors; there  was  sufficient  young  blood  in  the  community  to 
give  enterprise  and  strength ;  and  "  we  sang  songs  every  day, 
and  had  music  every  evening,"  said  old  Mr.Keppler  to  me, 
recounting  the  glories  of  those  days.  They  erected  woolen 
and  cotton  mills,  a  grist-mill  and  saw-mill ;  they  planted  or- 
chards and  vineyards ;  they  began  the  culture  of  silk,  and  with 
such  success  that  soon  the  Sunday  dress  of  men  as  well  as 
women  was  of  silk,  grown,  reeled,  spun,  and  woven  by  them- 
selves. 

In  building  the  new  town  of  Economy  they  displayed — 
thanks,  I  believe,  to  the  knowledge  and  skill  of  Frederick 
Rapp — a  good  deal  of  taste,  though  adhering  to  their  ancient 
plainness ;  and  their  two  removals  had  taught  them  valuable 
lessons  in  the  convenient  arrangement  of  machinery;  so  that 
Economy  is  even  now  a  model  of  a  well-built,  well-arranged 
country  village.  As  soon  as  they  began  to  substitute  brick  for 
log  houses,  they  insisted  upon  erecting  for  "Father  Rapp"  a 


78       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

house  somewhat  larger  and  more  spacious  than  the  common 
dwelling-houses,  though  not  in  any  other  way  different.  This 
was  advisable,  because  he  was  obliged  to  entertain  many  visit- 
ors and  strangers  of  distinction.  The  house  stands  opposite 
the  church ;  and  has  behind  it  a  spacious  garden,  arranged 
in  a  somewhat  formal  style,  with  box-edgings  to  the  walks, 
and  summer-houses  and  other  ornaments  in  the  old  geomet- 
rical style  of  gardening.  This  was  open  to  the  people,  of 
course ;  and  here  the  band  played  on  summer  evenings,  or  more 
frequently  on  Sunday  afternoons ;  and  here,  too,  flowers  were 
cultivated,  I  am  told,  with  great  success. 

How  rapidly  they  made  themselves  at  home  in  Economy  ap- 
pears from  the  following  account  of  the  Duke  of  Saxe -Wei- 
mar, who  visited  the  place  in  1826,  only  a  year  after  it  was 
founded : 

"  At  the  inn,  a  fine,  large,  frame  house,  we  were  received  by  Mr.  Rapp, 
the  principal,  at  the  head  of  the  community.  He  is  a  gray-headed  and 
venerable  old  man ;  most  of  the  members  immigrated  twenty-one  years 
ago  from  Wiirtemberg  along  with  him. 

"  The  warehouse  was  shown  to  us,  where  the  articles  made  here  for  sale 
or  use  are  preserved,  and  I  admired  the  excellence  of  all.  The  articles 
for  the  use  of  the  society  are  kept  by  themselves ;  as  the  members  have 
no  private  possessions,  and  every  thing  is  in  common,  so  must  they,  in 
relation  to  all  their  wants,  be  supplied  from  the  common  stock.  The 
clothing  and  food  they  make  use  of  is  of  the  best  quality.  Of  the  latter, 
flour,  salt  meat,  and  all  long -keeping  articles,  are  served  out  monthly; 
fresh  meat,  on  the  contrary,  is  distributed  as  soon  as  it  is  killed,  accord- 
ing to  the  size  of  the  family,  etc.  As  every  house  has  a  garden,  eacli 
family  raises  its  own  vegetables  and  some  poultry,  and  each  family  has 
its  own  bake-oven.  For  such  things  as  are  not  raised  in  Economy,  there 
is  a  store  provided,  from  which  the  members,  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
directors,  may  purchase  what  is  necessary,  and  the  people  of  the  vicinity 
may  do  the  same. 

"  Mr.  Rapp  finally  conducted  us  into  the  factory  again,  and  said  that 
the  girls  had  especially  requested  this  visit  that  I  might  hear  them  sing. 
When  their  work  is  done,  they  collect  in  one  of  the  factory  rooms,  to  the 


The  Harmony  Society.  79 

number  of  sixty  or  seventy,  to  sing  spiritual  and  other  songs.  They  have 
a  peculiar  hymn-book,  containing  hymns  from  the  old  Wurtemberg  col- 
lection, and  others  written  by  the  elder  Rapp.  A  chair  was  placed  for 
the  old  patriarch,  who  sat  anfid  the  girls,  and  they  commenced  a  hymn 
in  a  very  delightful  manner.  It  was  naturally  symphonious,  and  exceed- 
ingly well  arranged.  The  girls  sang  four  pieces,  at  first  sacred,  but  after- 
ward, by  Mr.  Rapp's  desire,  of  a  gay  character.  With  real  .emotion  did  I 
witness  this  interesting  scene. 

"Their  factories  and  workshops  are  warmed  during  the  winter  by 
means  of  pipes  connected  with  the  steam-engine.  All  the  workmen,  and 
especially  the  females,  had  very  healthy  complexions,  and  moved  me 
deeply  by  the  warm-hearted  friendliness  with  which  they  saluted  the 
elder  Rapp.  I  was  also  much  gratified  to  see  vessels  containing  fresh 
sweet-scented  flowers  standing  on  all  the  machines.  The  neatness  which 
universally  reigns  is  in  every  respect  worthy  of  praise."* 

This  account  shows  the  remarkable  rapidity  with  which 
they  had  built  up  the  new  town. 

But  perfect  happiness  is  not  for  this  world.  In  1831  came 
to  Economy  a  German  adventurer,  Bernhard  Miiller  by  right 
name,  who  had  assumed  the  title  Graf  or  Count  Maximilian 
de  Leon,  and  had  gathered  a  following  of  visionary  Germans, 
whom  he  imposed,  with  himself,  upon  the  Harmonists,  on  the 
pretense  that  he  was  a  believer  with  them  in  religious  matters. 
He  proved  to  be  a  wretched  intriguer,  who  brought  ruin  on  all 
who  connected  themselves  with  him ;  and  who  began  at  once 
to  make  trouble  in  Economy.  Having  secured  a  lodgment,  he 
began  to  announce  strange  doctrines,  marriage,  a  livelier  life, 
and  other  temptations  to  worldliness ;  and  he  finally  succeeded 
in  effecting  a  serious  division,  which,  if  it  had  not  been  pru- 
dently managed,  might  have  destroyed  the  community.  After 
bitter  disputes,  in  which  at  last  affairs  came  to  such  a  pass  that 
a  vote  had  to  be  taken,  in  order  to  decide  who  were  faithful 
to  the  old  order  and  to  Rapp,  and  who  were  for  Count  Leon, 

*  "  Travels  through  North  America,  during  the  years  1825-26,  by  His 
Highness,  Bernhard,  Duke  of  Saxe-Weimar  Eisenach."  Philadelphia,  1828. 


8o       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

an  agreement  was  come  to.  "  We  knew  not  even  who  was  for 
and  who  against  us,"  said  Mr.  Henrici  to  me ;  "  and  I  was  in 
the  utmost  anxiety  as  I  made  out  the  two  lists ;  at  last  they 
were  complete ;  all  the  names  had  been  called ;  we  counted, 
and  found  that  five  hundred  were  for  Father  Rapp,  and  two 
hundred  and  fifty  for  Count  Leon.  Father  Rapp,  when  I  told 
him  the  numbers,  with  his  usual  ready  wit,  quoted  from  the  book 
of  Revelation,  'And  the  tail  of  the  serpent  drew  the  third 
part  of  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  did  cast  them  to  the  earth.'  r 

The  end  of  the  dispute  was  an  agreement,  under  which  the 
society  bound  itself  to  pay  to  those  who  adhered  to  Count 
Leon  one  hundred  and  five  thousand  dollars,  in  three  install 
ments,  all  payable  within  twelve  months ;  the  other  side  agree- 
ing, on  their  part,  to  leave  Economy  within  three  months,  tak- 
ing with  them  only  their  clothing  and  household  furniture,  and 
relinquishing  all  claims  upon  the  property  of  the  society.  This 
agreement  was  made  in  March,  1832 ;  and  Leon  and  his  fol- 
lowers withdrew  to  Phillipsburg,  a  village  ten  miles  below 
Economy,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  which  they  bought, 
with  eight  hundred  acres  of  land. 

Here  they  set  up  a  society  on  communistic  principles,  but 
permitting  marriage ;  and  here  they  very  quickly  wasted  the 
large  sum  of  money  they  received  from  the  Harmonists ;  and 
after  a  desperate  and  lawless  attempt  to  extort  more  money 
from  the  Economy  people,  which  was  happily  defeated,  Count 
Leon  absconded  with  a  few  of  his  people  in  a  boat  to  Alexan- 
dria on  the  Red  River,  where  this  singular  adventurer  perished 
of  cholera  in  1833.  Those  he  had  deluded  meantime  divided 
the  Phillipsburg  property  among  themselves,  and  set  up  each 
for  himself,  and  a  number  afterward  joined  Keil  in  forming 
the  Bethel  Community  in  Missouri,  of  which  an  account  will 
be  found  in  another  place. 

In  1832,  seven  years  only  after  the  removal  to  Economy,  the 
society  was  able,  it  thus  appears,  to  pay  out  in  a  single  year 


The  Harmony  Society.  8 1 

one  hundred  and  five  thousand  dollars  in  cash — a  very  great 
sum  of  money  in  those  days.  This  shows  that  they  had  large- 
ly increased  their  capital  by  their  thrift  and  industry  at  Xew 
Harmony  in  Indiana,  and  at  Economy.  They  had  then  ex- 
isted as  a  community  twenty-seven  years;  had  built  three 
towns ;  and  had  during  the  whole  time  lived  a  life  of  comfort 
and  social  order,  such  as  few  individual  settlers  in  our  Western 
States  at  that  time  could  command. 


III. — DOCTRINES   AND  PEACTICAL   LIFE  IN  ECONOMY; 
WITH  SOME  PARTICULARS  OF  "FATHER  KAPP." 

The  Agreement  or  Articles  of  Association  under  which  the 
"  Harmony  Society  "  was  formed  in  1805,  and  which  was  sign- 
ed by  all  the  members  thenceforward,  read  as  follows : 

"ARTICLES  OF  ASSOCIATION. 

"  Whereas,  by  the  favor  of  divine  Providence,  an  association  or  com- 
munity has  been  formed  by  George  Rapp  and  many  others  upon  the  basis 
of  Christian  fellowship,  the  principles  of  which,  being  faithfully  derived 
from  the  sacred  Scriptures,  include  the  government  of  the  patriarchal  age, 
united  to  the  community  of  property  adopted  in  the  days  of  the  apostles, 
and  wherein  the  simple  object  sought  is  to  approximate,  so  far  as  human 
imperfections  may  allow,  to  the  fulfillment  of  the  will  of  God,  by  the  ex- 
ercise of  those  affections  and  the  practice  of  those  virtues  which  are  es- 
sential to  the  happiness  of  man  in  time  and  throughout  eternity : 

"  And  wTiereas  it  is  necessary  to  the  good  order  and  well-being  of  the 
said  association  that  the  conditions  of  membership  should  be  clearly  un- 
derstood, and  that  the  rights,  privileges,  and  duties  of  every  individual 
therein  should  be  so  defined  as  to  prevent  mistake  or  disappointment,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  contention  or  disagreement  on  the  other ; 

"  Therefore  be  it  known  to  all  whom  it  may  concern  that  we,  the  un- 
dersigned, citizens  of  the  County  of  Beaver,  in  the  Commonwealth  of 
Pennsylvania,  do  severally  and  distinctly,  each  for  himself,  covenant, 
grant,  and  agree,  to  and  with  the  said  George  Rapp  and  his  associates, 
as  follows,  viz. : 


82       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"  ARTICLE  I.  We,  the  undersigned,  for  ourselves,  our  heirs,  executors, 
and  administrators,  do  hereby  give,  grant,  and  forever  convey  to  the 
said  George  Rapp  and  his  associates,  and  to  their  heirs  and  assigns,  all 
our  property,  real,  personal,  and  mixed,  whether  it  be  lands  and  tenements, 
goods  and  chattels,  money  or  debts-  due  to  us,  jointly  or  severally,  in  pos- 
session, in  remainder,  or  in  reversion  or  expectancy,  whatsoever  and  where- 
soever, without  evasion,  qualification,  or  reserve,  as  a  free  gift  or  donation, 
for  the  benefit  and  use  of  the  said  association  or  community ;  and  we  do 
hereby  bind  ourselves,  our  heirs,  executors,  and  administrators,  to  do  all 
such  other  acts  as  may  be  necessary  to  vest  a  perfect  title  to  the  same  in 
the  said  association,  and  to  place  the  said  property  at  the  full  disposal  of 
the  superintendent  of  the  said  community  without  delay. 

"  ARTICLE  II.  We  do  further  covenant  and  agree  to  and  with  the  said 
George  Rapp  and  his  associates,  that  we  will  severally  submit  faithfully 
to  the  laws  and  regulations  of  said  community,  and  will  at  all  times  mani- 
fest a  ready  and  cheerful  obedience  toward  those  who  are  or  may  be  ap- 
pointed as  superintendents  thereof,  holding  ourselves  bound  to  promote 
the  interest  and  welfare  of  the  said  community,  not  only  by  the  labor  of 
our  own  hands,  but  also  by  that  of  our  children,  our  families,  and  all 
others  who  now  are  or  hereafter  may  be  under  our  control. 

"  ARTICLE  III.  If  contrary  to  our  expectation  it  should  so  happen  that 
we  could  not  render  the  faithful  obedience  aforesaid,  and  should  be  in- 
duced from  that  or  any  other  cause  to  withdraw  from  the  said  associa- 
tion, then  and  in  such  case  we  do  expressly  covenant  and  agree  to  and 
with  the  said  George  Rapp  and  his  associates  that  we  never  will  claim 
or  demand,  either  for  ourselves,  our  children,  or  for  any  one  belonging  to 
us,  directly  or  indirectly,  any  compensation,  wages,  or  reward  whatever 
for  our  or  their  labor  or  services  rendered  to  the  said  community,  or  to 
any  member  thereof;  but  whatever  we  or  our  families  jointly  or  severally 
shall  or  may  do,  all  shall  be  held  and  considered  as  a  voluntary  service 
for  our  brethren. 

"  ARTICLE  IV.  In  consideration  of  the  premises,  the  said  George  Rapp 
and  his  associates  do,  by  these  presents,  adopt  the  undersigned  jointly 
and  severally  as  members  of  the  said  community,  whereby  each  of  them 
obtains  the  privilege  of  being  present  at  every  religious  meeting,  and  of 
receiving  not  only  for  themselves,  but  also  for  their  children  and  families, 
all  such  instructions  in  church  and  school  as  may  be  reasonably  required, 
both  for  their  temporal  good  and  for  their  eternal  felicity. 

"  ARTICLE  V.  The  said  George  Rapp  and  his  associates  further  agree 


The  Harmony  Society.  83 

to  supply  the  undersigned  severally  with  all  the  necessaries  of  life,  as 
clothing,  meat,  drink,  lodging,  etc.,  for  themselves  and  their  families. 
And  this  provision  is  not  limited  to  their  days  of  health  and  strength ; 
but  when  any  of  them  shall  become  sick,  infirm,  or  otherwise  unfit  for  la- 
bor, the  same  support  and  maintenance  shall  be  allowed  as  before,  to- 
gether with  such  medicine,  care,  attendance,  and  consolation  as  their  sit- 
uation may  reasonably  demand.  And  if  at  any  time  after  they  have  be- 
come members  of  the  association,  the  father  or  mother  of  a  family  should 
die  or  be  otherwise  separated  from  the  community,  and  should  leave  their 
family  behind,  such  family  shall  not  be  left  orphans  or  destitute,  but  shall 
partake  of  the  same  rights  and  maintenance  as  before,  so  long  as  they  re- 
main in  the  association,  as  well  in  sickness  as  in  health,  and  to  such  ex- 
tent as  their  circumstances  may  require. 

"  ARTICLE  VI.  And  if  it  should  so  happen  as  above  mentioned  that 
any  of  the  undersigned  should  violate  his  or  their  agreement,  and  would 
or  could  not  submit  to  the  laws  and  regulations  of  the  church  or  the 
community,  and  for  that  or  any  other  cause  should  withdraw  from  the 
association,  then  the  said  George  Rapp  and  his  associates  agree  to  refund 
to  him  or  them  the  value  of  all  such  property  as  he  or  they  may  have 
brought  into  the  community,  in  compliance  with  the  first  article  of  this 
agreement,  the  said  value  to  be  refunded  without  interest,  in  one,  two,  or 
three  annual  installments,  as  the  said  George  Rapp  and  his  associates 
shall  determine.  And  if  the  person  or  persons  so  withdrawing  them- 
selves were  poor,  and  brought  nothing  into  the  community,  notwithstand- 
ing they  depart  openly  and  regularly,  they  shall  receive  a  donation  in 
money,  according  to  the  length  of  their  stay  and  to  their  conduct,  and 
to  such  amount  as  their  necessities  may  require,  in  the  judgment  of  the 
superintendents  of  the  association." 

In  1818,  as  before  mentioned,  a  book  in  which  was  recorded 
the  amount  of  property  contributed  by  each  member  to  the 
general  fund  was  destroyed.  In  1836  a  change  was  made  in 
the  formal  constitution  or  agreement  above  quoted,  in  the  fol- 
lowing words : 

"1st.  The  sixth  article  [in  regard  to  refunding]  is  entirely  annulled 
and  made  void,  as  if  it  had  never  existed,  all  others  to  remain  in  full  force 
as  heretofore.  2d.  All  the  property  of  the  society,  real,  personal,  and 
mixed,  in  law  or  equity,  and  howsoever  contributed  or  acquired,  shall  be 


84       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

deemed,  now  and  forever,  joint  and  indivisible  stock.  Each  individual 
is  to  be  considered  to  have  finally  and  irrevocably  parted  with  all  his 
former  contributions,  whether  in  lands,  goods,  money,  or  labor,  and  the 
same  rule  shall  apply  to  all  future  contributions,  whatever  they  may  be. 
3d.  Should  any  individual  withdraw  from  the  society  or  depart  this  life, 
neither  he,  in  the  one  case,  nor  his  representatives  in  the  other,  shall  be 
entitled  to  demand  an  account  of  said  contributions,  or  to  claim  any  thing 
from  the  society  as  a  matter  of  right.  But  it  shall  be  left  altogether  to 
the  discretion  of  the  superintendent  to  decide  whether  any,  and,  if  any, 
what  allowance  shall  be  made  to  such  member  or  his  representatives  as 
a  donation." 

These  amendments  were  signed  by  three  hundred  and  nine- 
ty-one members,  being  all  who  then  constituted  the  society. 
No  other  changes  have  been  made ;  but  on  the  death  of  Father 
Rapp,  on  the  7th  of  August,  1847,  the  whole  society  signed 
the  constitution  again,  and  put  in  office  two  trustees  and  seven 
elders,  to  perform  all  the  duties  and  assume  all  the  authority 
which  Father  Rapp  had  relinquished  with  his  life. 

Under  this  simple  constitution  the  Harmony  Society  has 
flourished  for  sixty-nine  years ;  nor  has  its  life  been  threatened 
by  disagreements,  except  in  the  case  of  the  Count  de  Leon's  in- 
trigue. It  has  suffered  three  or  four  lawsuits  from  members 
who  had  left  it ;  but  iji  every  case  the  courts  have  decided  for 
the  society,  after  elaborate,  and  in  some  cases  long-continued 
trials.  It  has  always  lived  in  peace  and  friendship  with  its 
neighbors. 

Its  real  estate  and  other  property  was,  from  the  foundation 
until  his  death  in  1834,  held  in  the  name  of  Frederick  (Reich- 
ert)  Rapp,  who  was  an  excellent  business  man,  and  conducted 
all  its  dealings  with  the  outside  world,  and  had  charge  of  its 
temporalities  generally ;  the  elder  Rapp  avoiding  for  himself 
all  general  business.  Upon  Frederick's  death  the  society  form- 
ally and  unanimously  imposed  upon  Father  Rapp  the  care 
of  the  temporal  as  well  as  the  spiritual  affairs  of  the  little  com- 
monwealth, placing  in  his  name  the  title  to  all  their  property. 


The  Harmony  Society.  85 

But,  as  he  did  not  wish  to  let  temporal  concerns  interfere  with 
his  spiritual  functions,  and  as  besides  he  was  then  growing  old, 
being  in  1834  seventy-seven  years  of  age,  he  appointed  as  his 
helpers  and  subagents  two  members,  R.  L.  Baker  and  J.  Hen- 
rici,  the  latter  of  whom  is  still,  with  Mr.  Jonathan  Lenz,  the 
head  of  the  society,  "Mr.  Baker  having  died  some  years  ago. 

The  theological  belief  of  the  Harmony  Society  naturally 
crystallized  under  the  preaching  and  during  the  life  of  Father 
Rapp.  It  has  some  features  of  German  mysticism,  grafted 
upon  a  practical  application  of  the  Christian  doctrine  and 
theory. 

At  the  foundation  of  all  lies  A  strong  determination  to 
make  the  preparation  of  their  souls  or  spirits  for  the  future 
life  the  pre-eminent  business  of  life,  and  to  obey  in  the  strict- 
est and  most  literal  manner  what  they  believe  to  be  the  will 
of  God  as  revealed  and  declared  by  Jesus  Christ.  In  the  fol- 
lowing paragraphs  I  give  a  brief  summary  of  what  may  be 
called  their  creed : 

I.  They  hold  that  Adam  was  created  "in  the  likeness  of 
God ;"  that  he  was  a  dual  being,  containing  within  his  own 
person  both  the  sexual  elements,  reading  literally,  in  confirma- 
tion of  this,  the  text  (Gen.  i.  26,  27) :  "And  God  said,  Let  us 
make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness,  and  let  them  have 
dominion ;"  and,  "  So  God  created  man  in  his  own  image,  in 
the  image  of  God  created  he  him ;  male  and  female  created 
he  them ;"  which  they  hold  to  denote  that  both  the  Creator  and 
the  first  created  were  of  this  dual  nature.     They  believe  that 
had  Adam  been  content  to  remain  in  his  original  state,  he 
would  have  increased  without  the  help  of  a  female,  bringing 
forth  new  beings  like  himself  to  replenish  the  earth. 

II.  But  Adam  fell  into  discontent ;  and  God  separated  from 
his  body  the  female  part,  and  gave  it  him  according  to  his  de- 
sire ;  and  therein  they  believe  consisted  the  fall  of  man. 

III.  From  this  they  deduce  that  the  celibate  state  is  more 


86       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

pleasing  to  God ;  that  in  the  renewed  world  man  will  be  re- 
stored to  the  dual  Godlike  and  Adamic  condition ;  and, 

IV.  They  hold  that  the  coming  of  Christ  and  the  renovation 
of  the  world  are  near  at  hand.  This  nearness  of  the  millennium 
is  a  cardinal  point  of  doctrine  with  them;  and  Father  Rapp 
firmly  believed  that  he  would  live  to  see  the  wished-for  reap- 
pearance of  Christ  in  the  heavens,  and  that  he  would  be  per- 
mitted to  present  his  company  of  believers  to  the  Saviour 
whom  they  endeavored  to  please  with  their  lives.  So  vivid 
was  this  belief  in  him,  that  it  lead  some  of  his  followers  to 
fondly  fancy  that  Father  Rapp  would  not  die  before  Christ's 
coming ;  and  there  is  a  touching  story  of  the  old  man,  that 
when  he  felt  death  upon  him,  at  the  age  of  ninety,  he  said, 
"  If  I  did  not  know  that  the  dear  Lord  meant  I  should  present 
you  all  to  him,  I  should  think  my  last  moments  come."  These 
were  indeed  his  last  words.  To  be  in  constant  readiness  for 
the  reappearance  of  Christ  is  one  of  the  aims  of  the  society ; 
nor  have  its  members  ever  faltered  in  the  faith  that  this  great 
event  is  near  at  hand. 

Y.  Jesus  they  hold  to  have  been  born  "  in  the  likeness  of 
the  Father" — that  is  to  say,  a  dual  being,  as  Adam  before  the  fall. 

VI.  They  hold  that  Jesus  taught  and  commanded  a  com- 
munity of  goods ;  and  refer  to  the  example  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians as  proof. 

VII.  They  believe  in  the  ultimate  redemption  and  salvation 
of  all  mankind ;  but  hold  that  only  those  who  follow  the  celi- 
bate life,  and  otherwise  conform  to  what  they  understand  to  be 
the  commandments  of  Jesus,  will  come  at  once  into  the  bright 
and  glorious  company  of  Christ  and  his  companions ;  that  of- 
fenders will  undergo  a  probation  for  purification. 

VIII.  They  reject  and  detest  what  is   commonly  called 
"  Spiritualism." 

As  the  practical  application  to  their  daily  lives  of  the  re- 
ligious faith  which  I  have  concisely  stated,  Father  Rapp 


The  Harmony  Society.  87 

taught  humility,  simplicity  in  living,  self-sacrifice,  love  to 
your  neighbor,  regular  and  persevering  industry,  prayer  and 
self-examination. 

In  the  admission  of  new  members,  they  exact  a  complete 
confession  of  sins  to  one  of  the  elders  of  the  society,  as  being 
a  wholesome  and  necessary  part  of  true  repentance,  requisite  to 
secure  the  forgiveness  of  God. 

On  Sunday  two  services  are  held,  besides  a  Sunday-school 
for  the  children ;  and  the  preacher,  who  is  the  head  of  the  so- 
ciety, does  not  stand  up  when  delivering  his  discourse,  but  sits 
at  a  table  on  a  platform.  The  church  has  two  doors,  and  the 
men  enter  at  one,  the  women  at  the  other,  each  sex  occupying 
one  end  of  the  building  by  itself ;  the  pulpit  being  in  the  mid- 
dle, and  opposite  a  raised  and  inclosed  space  wherein  sit  the 
elders  and  the  choir. 

They  observe  as  holy  days  Christmas,  Good  Friday  and 
Easter,  and  Pentecost ;  and  three  great  festivals  of  their  own 
—the  15th  of  February,  which  is  the  anniversary  of  their 
foundation ;  Harvest-Home,  in  the  autumn ;  and  an  annual 
Lord's  Supper  in  October.  On  these  festival  occasions  they 
assemble  in  a  great  hall ;  and  there,  after  singing  and  addresses, 
a  feast  is  served,  there  being  an  elaborate  kitchen  adjacent  to 
the  hall  on  purpose  for  the  preparation  of  these  feasts,  while 
in  the  cellars  of  the  same  building  are  stores  of  wine  of  differ- 
ent ages  and  kinds. 

They  live  well ;  all  of  them  eat  meat,  and  but  a  few  abstain 
from  pork.  They  rise  between  five  and  six,  according  to  the 
season  of  the  year ;  eat  a  light  breakfast  between  six  and  seven ; 
have  a  lunch  at  nine ;  dinner  at  twelve ;  an  afternoon  lunch, 
called  "vesper  brodt"  at  three  $  to  which,  when  they  have  la- 
bored hard  in  the  fields,  they  add  wine  or  cider;  supper  be- 
tween six  and  seven ;  and  they  go  to  bed  by  nine  o'clock. 

Father  Eapp  taught  that  every  one  ought  to  labor  with  his 
hands,  and  at  agricultural  labor  where  this  was  possible.  He 

G 


88       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

was  himself  fond  of  out-door  employments,  and  liked  to  be  in 
the  fields,  helping  the  plowmen  or  harvesters.  The  women 
attend  to  the  housekeeping ;  and  as  this  is  simple  and  quickly 
done,  they  are  fond  of  working  in  the  gardens  attached  to  the 
houses.  In  the  old  times,  women  as  well  as  men  labored  in 
the  fields  in  harvest  time,  or  at  other  times  when  work  was 
pressing ;  and  the  younger  women  still  follow  this  habit,  which 
was  probably  brought  over  from  Germany. 

Each  household  consists  of  men  and  women  to  the  number 
of  from  four  to  eight,  and  usually  in  equal  numbers.  The 
houses  have  but  one  entrance  door  from  the  street.  They  car- 
pet their  floors,  and  generally  deny  themselves  no  comforts 
compatible  with  simplicity  of  life. 

Father  Rapp  taught  them  to  love  music  and  flowers ;  almost 
all  the  people  can  read  music,  and  there  are  but  few  who  have 
not  learned  to  play  upon  some  instrument.  In  their  worship 
they  use  instrumental  music;  and  it  forms  an  important  part 
in  their  feasts.  They  do  not  practice  dancing,  to  which  they 
have  always  felt  opposed.  As  they  study  plainness  of  dress, 
they  use  no  jewelry. 

They  once  had  a  museum,  which  has  been  sold.  Father  Rapp's 
house  contains  a  number  of  pictures,  among  them  a  fine  copy 
of  Benjamin  West's  "  Christ  Healing  the  Sick ;"  the  church 
and  assembly  hall  have  no  works  of  art.  The  people  read  the 
newspapers ;  and  those  who  wish  for  books  have  them,  there 
being  a  library ;  but  "the  Bible  is  the  book  chiefly  read  among 
us,"  I  was  told. 

Father  Rapp  taught  that  it  was  advisable  for  the  society  to 
make  all  it  could  for  itself;  and  he  had  an  intelligent  appreci- 
ation of  the  value  of  labor-saving  machinery.  Economy  has 
therefore  complete  and  well -furnished  shops  of  various  kinds. 
Its  steam-laundry  is  admirably  contrived ;  and  its  slaughter- 
house, with  piggery  and  soap-boiling  house  near  by ;  its  ma- 
chine shop,  with  a  cider-boiler  annexed ;  its  saw-mill,  wragon 


A   STREET  VIEW    IN   ECONOMY. 


FATHER  RAPP'S  HOUSE— ECONOMY. 


The  Harmony  Society.  89 

shop,  blacksmith  shop,  tannery,  carpenter's  shop,  bakery,  vine- 
gar factory  (where  much  cider  is  utilized),  hattery,  tailor's  and 
shoemaker's  shops,  tin  shop,  saddlery  shop,  and  weaver's  shop, 
show  how  various  were  and  are  the  industries  followed  here, 
and  how  completely  furnished  the  society  was,  from  within,  for 
all  the  wants  of  daily  life.  I  saw  even  a  shop  for  the  repair 
of  clocks  and  watches,  and  a  barber's  shop ;  the  barber  serving 
the  aged  and  sick,  and  being  otherwise  foreman  of  the  tailor's 
shop. 

In  this  long  list  I  have  not  specified  the  brewery,  grist-mill, 
a  large  granary,  a  cotton  and  a  woolen  mill ;  nor  the  two  great 
cellars  full  of  fine  wine  casks,  which  would  make  a  Californian 
envious,  so  well-built  are  they. 

There  is  also  a  school,  and  the  Harmony  people  have  always 
kept  up  a  good  school  for  the  children  in  their  charge.  They 
aim  to  give  each  child  an  elementary  education,  and  afterwards 
a  trade ;  and  as  the  boys  learn  also  agricultural  labors  of  dif- 
ferent kinds,  they  are  generally  self-helpful  when  they  pass 
into  the  world.  The  instruction  is  in  German  and  English ; 
and  the  small  girls  and  boys  whom  I  examined  wrote  very  well. 

Each  family  cooks  for  itself.  There  were  formerly  bake- 
ovens  in  every  block,  one  being  used  by  several  families ;  but 
there  is  now  a  general  bakery,  whence  all  carry  bread  in  in- 
definite and  unlimited  supplies.  Milk,  too,  is  brought  to  the 
houses,  and  from  what  each  household  receives,  it  saves  the 
cream  for  butter.  When  the  butcher  kills  a  beef,  a  little  boy 
is  sent  around  the  village,  who  knocks  at  each  window  and 
cries  out  "Solltfleisch  kolen" — "  Come  and  get  meat" — and  the 
butcher  serves  to  each  household  sufficient  for  its  wants.  Oth- 
er supplies  for  the  household  are  dealt  out  from  the  general 
storehouse  at  stated  periods ;  but  if  any  one  needs  more,  he 
has  only  to  apply.  Tea  is  not  generally  used. 

Clothing  is  given  out  as  it  is  needed  by  each  person ;  and  I 
was  told  that  the  tailor  usually  keeps  his  eye  upon  the  people's 


90       Communisjti  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

coats  and  trousers,  the  shoemaker  upon  their  shoes,  and  so  on  ; 
each  counting  it  a  matter  of  honor  or  pride  that  the  brethren 
shall  be  decently  and  comfortably  clad. 

"  As  each  labors  for  all,  and  as  the  interest  of  one  is  the  in- 
terest of  all,  there  is  no  occasion  for  selfishness,  and  no  room 
for  waste.  We  were  brought  up  to  be  economical ;  to  waste 
is  a  sin ;  we  live  simply ;  and  each  has  enough,  all  that  he  can 
eat  and  wear,  and  no  man  can  nse  more  than  that"  This  was 
the  simple  explanation  I  received  from  a  Harmonist,  when  I 
wondered  whether  some  family  or  person  would  not  be  waste- 
ful or  greedy. 

In  the  season,  all  the  people  who  are  not  too  old  labor  more 
or  less  in  the  fields  and  orchards.  This  is  their  habit,  and  is 
thought  healthful  to  body  and  soul. 

The  Harmonists  have  usually  attained  a  hale  and  happy  old 
age.  I  had  access  to  no  mortuary  records,  and  there  are  no 
monuments  in  the  cemetery,  but  a  great  part  of  the  people 
have  lived  to  be  seventy  and  over ;  and  they  die  without  fear, 
trusting  that  they  are  the  chosen  people  of  the  Lord. 

Such  is  Economy  at  this  time.  Its  large  factories  are  closed, 
for  its  people  are  too  few  to  man  them ;  and  the  members 
think  it  wiser  and  more  comfortable  for  themselves  to  employ 
labor  at  a  distance  from  their  own  town.  They  are  pecuniar- 
ily interested  in  coal-mines,  in  saw-mills,  and  oil-wells;  and 
they  control  manufactories  at  Beaver  Falls— .notably  a  cutlery 
shop,  the  largest  in  the  United  States,  and  one  of  the  largest 
in  the  world,  where  of  late  they  have  begun  to  employ  two 
hundred  Chinese ;  and  it  is  creditable  to  the  Harmony  people 
that  they  look  after  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  welfare  of 
these  strangers  as  but  too  few  employers  do. 

"Is  there  any  monument  to  Father  Kapp?"  I  asked;  and 
the  old  man  to  whom  I  put  the  question  said,  quietly, "  Yes, 
all  that  you  see  here,  around  us." 

His  body  lies   in  a  grave  undistinguishable  from   other? 


The  Harmony  Society.  91 

surrounding  it.  There  is  no  portrait  of  him — for  he  always 
refused  to  sit  for  one.  But  his  memory  is  most  tenderly  and 
reverently  cherished  by  his  followers  and  survivors.  From  a 
number  of  persons  I  gathered  the  following  personal  details, 
which  give  a  picture  of  the  man :  He  was  nearly  if  not  quite 
six  feet  high ;  well-built,  with  blue  eyes,  a  somewhat  stately 
walk,  and  a  full  beard,  which  he  was  the  first  in  the  society  to 
wear.  He  was  extremely  industrious,  and  never  wasted  even 
a  minute ;  knew  admirably  how  to  use  every  spare  moment. 
He  was  cheerful,  kindly,  talkative  ;  plain-spoken  when  he  had 
to  find  fault ;  not  very  enthusiastic,  but  somewhat  dry  and  very 
practical.  In  his  earlier  years,  in  Germany,  he  was  witty ; 
and  to  the  last  he  was  ready  and  apt  in  speech.  His  conver- 
sation centred  always  upon  religion  and  the  conduct  of  life ; 
and  no  matter  with  whom  he  was  speaking,  or  what  was  the 
character  of  the  person,  Rapp  knew  very  well  how  to  lead  the 
talk  to  these  topics. 

The  youn^  people  were  very  fond  of  him.  "  He  was  a  man 
before  whom  no  evil  could  stand."  "  When  I  met  him  in  the 
street,  if  I  had  a  bad  thought  in  my  head,  it  flew  away."  He 
was  constantly  in  the  fields  or  in  the  factories,  cheering,  en- 
couraging, or  advising  the  people.  "  He  knew  every  thing — 
how  to  do  it,  what  was  the  best  way."  "  Ah,  he  was  a  man ; 
he  told  us  what  to  do,  and  how  to  be  good."  In  his  spare 
moments  he  studied  botany,  geology,  astronomy,  mechanics. 
"  He  was  never  idle,  not  even  a  quarter  of  an  hour."  He  be- 
lieved much  in  work ;  thought  hard  field-work  a  good  cure  for 
spiritual  as  well  as  bodily  diseases.  He  was  an  "  extraordinarily 
eloquent  preacher ;"  and  it  is  a  singular  fact  that,  dying  at  the 
great  age  of  ninety,  he  preached  in  the  church  twice  but  two 
Sundays  before  his  death ;  and  on  the  Sunday  before  he  died 
addressed  his  people  from  the  window  of  his  sick-room.  He 
was  "  a  good  man,  with  true,  honest  eyes."  He  "  always  la- 
bored against  selfishness,  and  to  serve  the  brethren  and  the 


92       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Lord."  He  appears  to  have  abhorred  ostentation  and  needless 
forms  and  ceremonies,  for  he  sat  while  preaching ;  never  pre- 
scribed any  uniform  dress  or  peculiar  form  of  speech ;  and 
neither  in  their  worship  nor  in  their  daily  lives  taught  the  peo- 
ple to  make  merely  formal  differences  between  themselves  and 
the  world  at  large.  That  he  did  not  feel  the  necessity  of  such 
outward  protests  against  "  the  world/'  and  relied  for  the  bond 
of  union  in  the  community  so  entirely  upon  the  effect  of  his 
teachings,  seems  to  me  one  of  the  surest  and  most  significant 
proofs  of  his  real  power. 

Such  is  the  report  of  their  founder  and  guide  from  the 
older  men  now  living,  who  knew  him  well.  That  he  was  a 
man  of  great  force  and  high  character  it  seems  to  be  impos- 
sible to  doubt.  It  has  often  been  reported  that  he  was  tyran- 
nical and  self-seeking;  and  that  he  chose  his  people  from 
among  the  most  ignorant,  in  order  to  rule  them.  But  the  pres- 
ent members  of  the  Harmony  Society  can  not  be  called  igno- 
rant :  they  are  a  simple  and  pious  people,  but  not  incapable  of 
taking  care  of  their  own  interests ;  and  their  opinion  of  their 
founder  is  probably  the  correct  one.  Their  love  and  reverence 
for  him,  their  recital  of  his  goodness,  of  his  abilities,  and  of  his 
intercourse  with  them,  are  the  best  testimony  as  to  his  charac- 
ter; and  their  continuance  in  the  course  he  laid  out  for  them, 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  since  his  death,  shows 
that  not  only  did  his  teaching  and  life  inspire  confidence,  but 
also  that  his  training  bore  wholesome  fruit  in  them. 

He- made  religion  the  most  important  interest  in  the  lives  of 
his  followers.  Not  only  did  he  preach  on  Sundays,  but  he  ad- 
monished, encouraged,  reproved,  and  advised  constantly  dur- 
ing the  week ;  he  divided  the  people  into  companies  or  classes, 
who  met  on  week-day  evenings  for  mutual  counsel  in  religious 
matters,  and  with  these  he  constantly  met ;  he  visited  the  sick ; 
he  buried  the  dead — with  great  plainness  and  lack  of  cere- 
mony. He  taught  that  they  ought  to  purify  the  body,  and  he 


The  Harmony  Society.  93 

was  himself  a  model  of  plain  and  somewhat  rigid  and  prac- 
tical living,  and  of  self-abnegation ;  and  I  think  no  thoughtful 
man  can  hear  his  story  from  the  older  members  of  the  society 
who  were  brought  up  under  his  rule,  and  consider  the  history 
of  Economy,  and  the  present  daily  life  of  its  people,  without 
conceiving  a  great  respect  for  Father  Rapp's  powers  and  for 
the  use  he  made  of  them. 

Pecuniarily  Rapp's  experiment  has  been  an  extraordinary 
success.  The  society  is  now  reported  to  be  worth  from  two  to 
three  millions  of  dollars.  By  an  investigation  into  all  its  affairs 
and  interests,  made  in  the  Pennsylvania  courts  in  1854,  by  rea- 
son of  a  suit  brought  by  a  seceding  member,  it  was  shown  to 
be  worth  at  that  time  over  a  million.  In  these  days  of  default- 
ing bank  officers  and  numerous  breaches  of  trust,  it  is  a  singu- 
lar commentary  upon  the  communal  system  to  know  that  the 
society  has  never  required  from  its  chiefs  any  report  upon 
their  administration  of  the  finances.  The  investigation  in  the 
courts  was  the  first  insight  they  had  since  their  foundation  into 
the  management  of  their  affairs  by  Rapp  and  his  successors ; 
and  there  the  utmost  efforts  of  opposing  lawyers,  among  whom, 
by  the  way,  was  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  afterward  Secretary  of 
War,  failed  to  discover  the  least  maladministration  or  misap- 
propriation of  funds  by  the  rulers ;  and  proved  the  integrity 
of  all  who  had  managed  their  extensive  and  complicated  busi- 
ness from  the  beginning. 

As  Father  Rapp  grew  older,  his  influence  over  his  people 
became  absolute.  His  long  life  among  them  bore  fruit  in  an 
unwavering  confidence  in  his  sound  judgment  and  unselfish 
devotion.  He  appears  to  have  led  them  in  right  paths ;  for, 
though  probably  few  will  be  found  to  subscribe  to  their  pecul- 
iar religious  tenets,  all  their  neighbors  hold  them  in  the  high- 
est esteem,  as  just,  honest,  kindly,  charitable,  patriotic ;  good 
citizens,  though  they  do  not  vote ;  careful  of  their  servants  and 
laborers ;  fair  and  liberal  in  their  dealings  writh  the  world. 


94       Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Of  Economy  as  it  now  is,  what  I  have  written  gives  a  suffi- 
ciently precise  view.  The  great  factories  are  closed,  and  the 
people  live  quietly  in  their  pretty  and  simple  homes.  The  en- 
ergies put  in  motion  by  their  large  capital  are  to  be  found  at 
a  distance  from  their  village.  Their  means  give  employment 
to  many  hundreds  of  people  in  different  parts  of  Western 
Pennsylvania ;  and  wherever  I  have  come  upon  their  traces,  I 
have  found  the  "  Economites,"  as  they  are  commonly  called, 
highly  spoken  of.  They  have  not  sought  to  accumulate  wealth  ; 
but  their  reluctance  to  enter  into  new  enterprises  has  probably 
made  them  in  the  long  run  only  more  successful,  for  it  has 
made  them  prudent ;  and  they  have  not  boen  tempted  to  work 
on  credit;  while  their  command  of  ready  money  has  opened 
to  them  the  best  opportunities. 

The  present  managers  or  trustees  ("  verwalter ")  are  Jacob 
Henrici  and  Jonathan  Lenz.  The  first,  who  is  also  the  religious 
head,  being  in  this  respect  the  successor  of  R.  L.  Baker,  who 
was  the  successor  of  Father  Rapp,  is  a  German  by  birth,  and 
a  man  of  culture  and  of  deep  piety.  He  was  educated  to  be 
a  teacher ;  and  entered  the  Harmony  Society  in  1826,  a  year 
after  its  removal  to  Economy.  Rapp  appears  to  have  appre- 
ciated from  the  first  his  gentle  spirit,  piety,  and  sincere  devo- 
tion to  the  community,  as  well  as  the  importance  of  his  culture 
and  talents.  He  lived  long  in  the  house  with  Father  Rapp, 
and  was  his  intimate  and  confidant.  Upon  Frederick  Rapp's 
death,  Father  Rapp  appointed  Baker  and  Henrici  to  attend  to 
the  temporal  concerns  with  which  he  was  then  charged ;  and 
upon  the  Elder  Rapp's  death,  these  two  were  chosen  to  take 
his  place.  When  Mr.  Baker  died,  Mr.  Henrici  was  chosen  to 
fill  his  place,  and  he  selected  Mr.  Lenz  to  be  his  coadjutor. 

Mr.  Lenz  was  born  in  the  society  in  1807,  and  has  lived  in 
it  all  his  life.  He  also  is  a  man  of  some  culture,  of  gentle 
and  pleasant  manners,  and  an  excellent  business  man. 

Botli   are   aged,  Henrici   being    seventy,  and  Lenz   sixty- 


The  Harmony  Society.  95 


seven.  Both  are  tall,  firmly  built,  and  fine-looking  men,  with 
a  peculiarly  gentle  and  lovable  expression  of  face.  They  live 
together  in  the  house  built  for  Father  Kapp,  where  also  live 
several  of  the  older  members,  among  them  Miss  Gertrude 
Rapp,  a  granddaughter  of  the  founder,  a  charming  old  lady, 
with  a  very  bright,  intelligent  face.  All  these  old  people  are 
so  wrell  preserved,  and  have  so  free  and  wholesome  an  air,  that 
intercourse  with  them  is  not  a  slight  argument  to  the  visitor 
in  favor  of  their  simple  manner  of  life. 

There,  is  a  council  of  seven  persons,  from  among  whom  the 
trustees  are  chosen. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  among  .the  hired  people  of  the  so- 
ciety, living  in  Economy,  are  a  number  whom  they  adopted 
as  children  and  brought  up,  and  who  conform  their  lives  in 
all  respects,  even  to  the  celibate  condition,  to  the  rules  of  the 
society,  but  prefer  to  labor  for  wages  rather  than  become 
members. 

The  society  does  not  seek  new  members,  though  I  am  told 
it  would  not  refuse  any  who  seemed  to  have  a  true  vocation. 
As  to  its  future,  little  is  said.  The  people  look  for  the  coming 
of  the  Lord ;  they  await  the  appearance  of  Christ  in  the  heav- 
ens ;  and  their  chief  aim  is  to  be  ready  for  this  great  event, 
when  they  expect  to  be  summoned  to  Palestine,  to  be  joined  to 
the  great,  crowd  of  the  elect.  Naturally  there  are  not  want- 
ing, among  their  neighbors  in  Pittsburgh,  people  who  are  tor- 
mented with  curiosity  to  know  what  is  to  become  of  the  large 
property  of  the  Harmonists  when  these  old  people  finally,  in 
the  course  of  nature,  pass  away.  "  The  Lord  will  show  us  a 
way,"  is  the  answer  at  Economy  to  such  inquiries.  "  We  have 
not  trusted  him  in  vain  so  far ;  we  trust  him  still.  He  will 
give  us  a  sign." 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  SEPARATISTS, 


AT 


ZOA.R,  OHIO. 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  SEPARATISTS 
AT  ZOAR. 


I. — HlSTOKY. 

THE  village  of  Zoar  lies  in  Tuscarawas  County,  Ohio,  about 
half-way  between  Cleveland  and  Pittsburgh,  on  a  branch  of 
the  railroad  which  connects  these  two  points.  It  is  situated 
on  the  bank  of  the  Tuscarawas  Creek,  which  affords  at  this 
point  valuable  water-power.  The  place  is  irregularly  built, 
and  contains  fewer  houses  than  a  village  of  the  same  number 
of  inhabitants  usually  has ;  but  the  dwellings  are  mostly  quite 
large,  and  each  accommodates  several  families.  There  is  a 
commodious  brick  church,  a  large  and  well-fitted  brick  school- 
house,  an  extensive  country  tavern  or  hotel,  and  a  multitude 
of  sheds  and  barns.  There  are,  besides,  several  mills  and  fac- 
tories ;  and  in  the  middle  of  the  village  a  somewhat  elaborate, 
large,  square  house,  which  was  the  residence  of  the  founder 
and  head  of  the  society  until  his  death,  and  is  now  used  in 
part  as  a  storehouse. 

Zoar  is  the  home  of  a  communistic  society  who  call  them- 
selves "  Separatists,"  and  who  founded  the  village  in  1817,  and 
have  here  become  quite  wealthy.  They  originated  in  Wiirtem- 
berg,  and,  like  the  Harmony  Society,  the  Inspirationists,  and  oth- 
ers, were  dissenters  from  the  Established  Church.  The  Sepa- 
ratists of  southern  Germany  were  equivalent  to  what  in  K^ew 
England  are  called  "Come  Outers" — protestants  against  the 
prevailing  religious  faith,  or,  as  they  would  say,  lack  of  faith. 


i  oo     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

These  German  "Come  Outers"  were  for  the  most  part  mystics, 
who  had  read  the  writings  of  Jacob  Boehm,  Gerhard  Terstegen, 
and  Jung  Stilling;  they  cherished  different  religious  or  doc- 
trinal beliefs,  were  stigmatized  as  fanatics,  but  were  usually,  I 
judge,  simple-hearted,  pious  people,  desirous  to  lead  a  more 
spiritual  life  than  they  found  in  the  churches. 

Their  refusal  to  send  their  children  to  the  schools — which 
were  controlled  by  the  clergy — and  to  allow  their  young  men 
to  serve  as  soldiers,  brought  upon  them  persecution  from  both 
the  secular  and  the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  resulting  in  flog- 
ging, imprisonment,  and  fines.  The  people  who  finally  emi- 
grated to  Zoar,  after  enduring  these  persecutions  for  ten  or 
twelve  years  gathered  together  in  an  obscure  part  of  Wiirtem- 
berg,  where,  by  the  favor  of  a  friend  at  court,  they  were  per- 
mitted to  settle.  But  even  from  this  refuge  they  were  hunt- 
ed out  after  some  years ;  and,  finding  no  other  resource  left, 
they  at  last  determined  to  remove  in  a  body  to  America,  those 
few  among  them  who  had  property  paying  the  passage  of 
those  who  were  without  means. 

Their  persecutions  had,  it  seems,  attracted  the  attention  of 
some  English  Quakers,  who  aided  them  to  emigrate,  and  with 
kindly  forethought  sent  in  advance  of  them  to  certain  Quakers 
in  Philadelphia  a  sum  of  money,  amounting,  I  have  been  told, 
to  eighteen  dollars  for  each  person  of  the  company,  with 
which  their  Philadelphia  friends  provided  for  them  on  their 
landing.  This  kind  care  is  still  acknowledged  at  Zoar  as  an 
"  inestimable  blessing." 

They  arrived  at  Philadelphia  in  August,  1817,  and  almost 
immediately  bargained  with  one  Hagar  for  a  tract  of  five 
thousand  six  hundred  acres  of  land,  which  they  were,  with  the 
help  of  their  Quaker  friends,  enabled  to  buy  on  favorable 
terms.  It  was  a  military  grant  in  the  wilderness  of  Ohio,  and 
they  agreed  to  give  for  it  three  dollars  per  acre,  with  a  credit 
of  fifteen  years,  the  first  three  years  without  interest. 


The  Society  of  Separatists  at  Zoar.  101 

Joseph  Baumeler,  whom  they  had  chosen  to  be  their  leader, 
went  out  to  take  possession  with  a  few  able-bodied  men,  and 
these  built  the  first  log-hut  on  the  1st  of  December,  1817. 
During  the  following  spring  the  remainder  of  the  society  fol- 
lowed ;  but  many  were  so  poor  that  they  had  to  take  service 
with  the  neighboring  farmers  to  earn  a  support  for  their  fam- 
ilies, and  all  lived  in  the  poorest  possible  way. 

At  this  time  they  had  no  intention  of  forming  a  communist- 
ic society.  They  held  their  interests  separately;  and  it  was 
expected  that  each  member  should  pay  for  his  own  share  of 
the  land,  which  had  been  purchased  in  order  to  be  thus  subdi- 
vided. Their  purpose  was  to  worship  God  according  to  their 
faith,  in  freedom,  and  to  live,  for  that  end,  in  a  neighbor- 
hood. 

But,  having  among  them  a  certain  number  of  old  and  feeble 
people,  and  many  poor  who  found  it  difficult  to  save  money  to 
pay  for  their  land,  the  leading  men  presently  saw  that  the  en- 
terprise would  fail  unless  it  was  established  upon  a  different 
foundation;  and  that  necessity  would  compel  the  people  to 
scatter.  Early  in  1819  the  leaders  after  consultation  deter- 
mined that,  to  succeed,  they  must  establish  a  community  of 
goods  and  efforts,  and  draw  in  to  themselves  all  whom  poverty 
had  compelled  to  take  service  at  a  distance.  This  resolution 
was  laid  before  the  whole  society,  and,  after  some  weeks  of 
discussion,  was  agreed  to ;  and  on  the  15th  of  April  articles  of 
agreement  for  a  community  of  goods  were  signed.  There 
were  then  about  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  persons — men, 
women,  and  children.  The  men  were  farm-laborers,  weavers, 
carpenters,  bakers,  but  at  first  they  had  not  a  blacksmith  among 
them. 

From  this  time  they  began  to  prosper.  "We  could  never 
have  paid  for  our  land,  if  we  had  not  formed  a  community,'1 
the  older  people  told  me ;  and,  from  all  I  could  learn,  I  believe 

this  to  be  true. 

II 


IO2     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

At  first  they  prohibited  marriage,  and  it  was  not  until  1828 
or  1830  that  they  broke  down  this  rule. 

On  forming  a  community,  Joseph  Baumeler,  who  had  been 
a  leading  man  among  them,  was  chosen  to  be  their  spiritual 
as  well  as  temporal  head.  His  name  probably  proved  a  stum- 
bling-block to  his  American  neighbors,  for  he  presently  began 
to  spell  it  Bimeler — a  phonetic  rendering.  Thus  it  appears  in 
deeds  and  other  public  documents ;  and  the  people  came  to  be 
commonly  spoken  of  as  "  Bimmelers."  Baumeler  was  origin- 
ally a  weaver,  and  later  a  teacher*  He  was  doubtless  a  man 
of  considerable  ability,  but  not  comparable,  I  imagine,  with 
Rapp.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  fluent  speaker ;  and  on 
Sundays  he  delivered  to  the  society  a  long  series  of  discourses, 
which  were  after  his  death  gathered  together  and  printed  in 
German  in  three  ponderous  octavo  volumes.  They  concern 
themselves  not  only  with  religious  and  communistic  thoughts, 
but  largely  with  the  minor  morals,  manners,  good  order  in 
housekeeping,  cleanliness,  health  observances,  and  often  with 
physiological  details. 

In  March,  1824,  an  amended  constitution  was  adopted.  Be- 
tween 1828  and  1830  they  began  to  permit  marriage,  Baum- 
eler himself  taking  a  wife.  In  1832  the  Legislature  formally 
incorporated  the  "  Separatist  Society  of  Zoar,"  and  a  new 
constitution,  still  in  force,  was  signed  in  the  same  year. 

"  As  soon  as  we  adopted  community  of  goods  we  began  to 
prosper,"  said  one  of  the  older  members  to  me.  Having  abun- 
dance of  hands,  they  set  up  shops ;  and,  being  poor  and  in  debt, 
they  determined  to  live  rigidly  within  their  means  and  from 
their  own  products.  They  crowded  at  first  into  a  few  small  log- 
cabins  ;  some  of  which  are  still  standing,  and  are  occupied  to 
this  da}^.  They  kept  cattle ;  were  careful  and  laborious  farm- 
ers ;  and  setting  up  blacksmith's, carpenter's,  and  joiner's  shops, 
they  began  to  earn  a  little  money  from  work  done  for  the  neigh- 
boring farmers.  Nevertheless  their  progress  was  slow,  and  they 


The  Society  of  Separatists  at  Zoar.  103 

accounted  it  a  great  piece  of  good  fortune  when  in  1827  a 
canal  was  built  through  their  neighborhood.  What  with  put- 
ting their  own  young  men  upon  this  work,  and  selling  supplies 
to  the  contractors,  they  made  enough  money  from  this  enter- 
prise to  pay  for  their  land ;  and  thenceforth,  with  free  hands, 
they  began  to  accumulate  wealth. 

They  now  own  in  one  body  over  seven  thousand  acres  of 
very  fertile  land,  including  extensive  and  valuable  water- 
power,  and  have  besides  some  land  in  Iowa.  They  have  es- 
tablished a  woolen  factory,  where  they  make  cloth  and  yarn 
for  their  own  use  and  for  sale.  Also  two  large  flour-mills, 
a  saw-mill,  planing-mill,  machine  shop,  tannery,  and  dye- 
house.  They  have  also  a  country  store  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  neighborhood,  a  large  hotel  which  receives  summer 
visitors ;  and  for  their  own  use  they  maintain  a  wagon  shop, 
blacksmith's  and  carpenter's  shops,  tailors,  dressmakers,  shoe- 
makers, a  cider-mill,  a  small  brewery,  and  a  few  looms  for 
weaving  linen.  They  employ  constantly  about  fifty  persons 
not  members  of  the  community,  besides  "  renters,"  who  man- 
age some  of  their  farms  on  shares. 

They  have  now  (in  the  spring  of  1874)  about  three  hundred 
members,  and  their  property  is  worth  more  than  a  million 
dollars. 


II. — RELIGIOUS  FAITH  AND  PRACTICAL  LIFE. 

The  "  Principles  of  the  Separatists,"  which  are  printed  in 
the  first  volume  of  Joseph  Baumeler's  discourses,  were  evident- 
ly framed  in  Germany.  They  consist  of  twelve  articles : 

"  I.  We  believe  and  confess  the  Trinity  of  God :  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 

"II.  The  fall  of  Adam,  and  of  all  mankind,  with  the  loss 
thereby  of  the  likeness  of  God  in  them. 

"  III.  The  return  through  Christ  to  God,  our  proper  Father. 


IO4     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"  IY.  The  Holy  Scriptures  as  the  measure  and  guide  of  our 
lives,  and  the  touchstone  of  truth  and  falsehood. 

"  All  our  other  principles  arise  out  of  these,  and  rule  our 
conduct  in  the  religious,  spiritual,  and  natural  life. 

"V.  All  ceremonies  are  banished  from  among  us,  and  we 
declare  them  useless  and  injurious;  and  this  is  the  chief  cause 
of  our  Separation. 

"VI.  We  render  to  no  mortal  honors  due  only  to  God,  as 
to  uncover  the  head,  or  to  bend  the  knee.  Also  we  address 
every  one  as  '  thou ' — du. 

"  VII.  We  separate  ourselves  from  all  ecclesiastical  connec- 
tions and  constitutions,  because  true  Christian  life  requires  no 
sectarianism,  while  set  forms  and  ceremonies  cause  sectarian 
divisions. 

"  VIII.  Our  marriages  are  contracted  by  mutual  consent, 
and  before  witnesses.  They  are  then  notified  to  the  political 
authority ;  and  we  reject  all  intervention  of  priests  or  preachers. 

"  IX.  All  intercourse  of  the  sexes,  except  what  is  necessary 
to  the  perpetuation  of  the  species,  we  hold  to  be  sinful  and 
contrary  to  the  order  and  command  of  God.  Complete  vir- 
ginity or  entire  cessation  of  sexual  commerce  is  more  com- 
mendable than  marriage. 

"  X.  We  can  not  send  our  children  into  the  schools  of  Baby- 
lon [meaning  the  clerical  schools  of  Germany],  where  other 
principles  contrary  to  these  are  taught. 

"  XI.  We  can  not  serve  the  state  as  soldiers,  because  a  Chris- 
tian can  not  murder  his  enemy,  much  less  his  friend. 

"  XII.  We  regard  the  political  government  as  absolutely 
necessary  to  maintain  order,  and  to  protect  the  good  and  hon- 
est and  punish  the  wrong-doers ;  and  no  one  can  prove  us  to 
be  untrue  to  the  constituted  authorities." 

For  adhering  to  these  tolerably  harmless  articles  of  faith, 
they  suffered  bitter  persecution  in  Germany  in  the  beginning 
of  this  century. 


The  Society  of  Separatists  at  Zoar.  105 

Subject  to  the  above  declaration  they  have  a  formal  consti- 
tution, which  divides  the  members  into  two  classes,  the  noviti- 
ates and  the  full  associates.  The  former  are  required  to  serve  at 
least  one  year  before  admission  to  the  second  class,  and  this 
is  exacted  even  of  their  own  children,  if  on  attaining  majority 
they  wish  to  enter  the  society. 

The  members  of  the  first  or  probationary  class  do  not  give 
up  their  property.  They  sign  an  agreement,  "  for  the  further- 
ance of  their  spiritual  and  temporal  welfare  and  happiness,"  in 
which  they  "bind  themselves  to  labor,  obey,  and  execute  all 
the  orders  of  the  trustees  and  their  successors,"  and  to  "  use  all 
their  industry  and  skill  in  behalf  of  the  exclusive  benefit  of  the 
said  Separatist  Society  of  Zoar ;"  and  to  put  their  minor  chil- 
dren under  the  exclusive  guardianship  and  care  of  the  trustees. 

The  trustees  on  their  part,  and  for  the  society,  agree  to  se- 
cure to  the  signers  of  these  articles  "  board  and  clothing  free 
of  cost,  the  clothing  to  consist  of  at  any  time  no  less  than  two 
suits,  including  the  clothes  brought  by  the  said  party  of  the 
first  part  to  this  society."  Also  medical  attendance  and  nurs- 
ing in  case  of  sickness.  "  Good  moral  conduct,  such  as  is  en- 
joined by  the  strict  observance  of  the  principles  of  Holy  Writ," 
is  also  promised  by  .both  parties;  and  it  is  stipulated  that 
"  no  extra  supplies  shall  be  asked  or  allowed,  neither  in  meat, 
drink,  clothing,  nor  dwelling  (cases  of  sickness  excepted) ;  but 
such,  if  any  can  be  allowed  to  exist,  may  and  shall  be  obtained 
[by  the  neophytes]  through  means  of  their  own,  and  never  out 
of  the  common  fund." 

All  money  in  possession  of  the  probationer  must  be  deposited 
with  the  society  when  he  signs  the  agreement ;  for  it  a  receipt 
is  given,  making  the  deposit  payable  to  him  on  his  demand, 
without  interest. 

Finally,  it  is  agreed  that  all  disputes  shall  be  settled  by 
arbitration  alone,  and  within  the  society. 

When  a  member  of  the  first  or  probationary  class  desires  to 


io6     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

be  received  into  full  membership,  he  applies  to  the  trustees, 
who  formally  hear  his  demand,  inquire  into  the  reasons  he  can 
give  for  it,  and  if  they  know  no  good  cause  why  he  should  not 
be  admitted,  they  thereupon  give  thirty  days'  notice  to  the  so- 
ciety of  the  time  and  place  at  which  he  is  to  sign  the  covenant. 
If  during  that  interval  no  member  makes  charges  against  him, 
and  if  he  has  no  debts,  and  is  ready  to  make  over  any  property 
he  may  have,  he  is  allowed  to  sign  the  following  COVENANT  : 

"  We,  the  subscribers,  members  of  the  Society  of  Separatists 
of  the  second  class,  declare  hereby  that  we  give  all  our  property, 
of  every  kind,  not  only  what  we  already  possess,  but  what  we 
may  hereafter  come  into  possession  of  by  inheritance,  gift,  or 
otherwise,  real  and  personal,  and  all  rights,  titles,  and  expecta- 
tions whatever,  both  for  ourselves  and  our  heirs,  to  the  said 
society  forever,  to  be  and  remain,  not  only  during  our  lives, 
but  after  our  deaths,  the  exclusive  property  of  the  society. 
Also  we  promise  and  bind  ourselves  to  obey  all  the  commands 
and  orders  of  the  trustees  and  their  subordinates,  with  the  ut- 
most zeal  and  diligence,  without  opposition  or  grumbling ;  and 
to  devote  all  our  strength,  good-will,  diligence,  and  skill,  dur- 
ing our  whole  lives,  to  the  common  service  of  the  society  and 
for  the  satisfaction  of  its  trustees.  Also  we  consign  in  a  simi- 
lar manner  our  children,  so  long  as  they  are  minors,  to  the 
charge  of  the  trustees,  giving  these  the  same  rights  and  powers 
over  them  as  though  they  had  been  formally  indentured  to 
them  under  the  laws  of  the  state." 

Finally,  there  is  a  formal  CONSTITUTION,  which  prescribes  the 
order  of  administration ;  and  which  also  is  signed  by  all  the 
members.  According  to  this  instrument,  all  officers  are  to  be 
elected  by  the  whole  society,  the  women  voting  as  well  as  the 
men.  All  elections  are  to  be  by  ballot,  and  by  the  majority 
vote ;  and  they  are  to  be  held  on  the  second  Tuesday  in  May. 
The  society  is  to  elect  annually  one  trustee  and  one  member 
of  the  standing  committee  or  council,  once  in  four  years  a 


The  Society  of  Separatists  at  Zoar.  107 

cashier,  and  an  agent  whenever  a  vacancy  occurs  or  is  made. 
The  time  and  place  of  the  election  are  to  be  made  public 
twenty  days  beforehand  by  the  trustees,  and  four  members 
are  to  be  chosen  at  each  election  to  be  managers  and  judges  at 
the  next. 

The  trustees,  three  in  number,  are  to  serve  three  years,  but 
may  be  indefinitely  re-elected.  They  have  unlimited  power 
over  all  the  temporalities  of  the  society,  but  are  bound  to  pro- 
vide board,  clothing,  and  dwelling  for  each  member,  "  without 
respect  of  persons ;"  and  to  use  all  confided  to  their  charge  for 
the  best  interests  of  the  society.  They  are  to  manage  all  its 
industries  and  affairs,  and  to  prescribe  to  each  member  his 
work ;  "  but  in  all  they  do  they  are  to  have  the  general  con- 
sent of  the  society."  They  are  to  appoint  subordinates  and 
superintendents  of  the  different  industries ;  are  to  consult  in 
difficult  cases  with  the  Standing  Committee  of  Five,  and  are 
with  its  help  to  keep  the  peace  among  the  members. 

The  agent  is  the  trader  of  the  society,  who  is  to  be  its  inter- 
mediate with  the  outside  world,  to  buy  and  sell.  This  office 
is  now  held  by  the  leading  trustee. 

The  standing  committee  is  a  high  court  of  appeals  in  cases 
of  disagreement,  and  a  general  council  for  the  agent  and 
trustees. 

The  cashier  is  to  have  the  sole  and  exclusive  control  of  all 
the  moneys  of  the  society,  the  trustees  and  agent  being  obliged 
to  hand  over  to  his  custody  all  they  receive.  He  is  also  the 
book-keeper,  and  is  required  to  give  an  annual  account  to  the 
trustees. 

The  constitution  is  to  be  read  in  a  public  and  general  meet- 
ing of  the  society  at  least  once  in  every  year. 

The  system  of  administration  thus  prescribed  appears  to 
have  worked  satisfactorily  for  more  than  forty  years. 

"  Do  you  favor  marriage  ?"  I  asked  some  of  the  older  mem- 
bers, trustees,  and  managers.  They  answered  "  Xo  ;"  but  they 


io8     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

exact  no  penalty  nor  inflict  any  disability  upon  those  who 
choose  to  marry.  "  Marriage,"  I  was  told,  "  is  on  the  whole 
unfavorable  to  community  life.  It  is  better  to  observe  the 
celibate  life.  But  it  is  not,  in  our  experience,  fatally  adverse. 
It  only  makes  more  trouble ;  and  in  either  case,  whether  a 
community  permit  or  forbid  marriage,  it  may  lose  members." 

About  half  of  their  young  people,  who  have  grown  up  in 
the  society,  become  permanent  members,  and  as  many  young 
men  as  girls.  They  do  not  permit  members  to  marry  outside 
of  the  society ;  and  require  those  who  do  to  leave  the  place. 
"  Men  and  women  need  to  be  trained  to  live  peaceably  and 
contentedly  in  a  community.  Those  who  have  been  brought 
up  outside  do  not  find  matters  to  their  taste  here." 

Baumeler  taught  that  God  did  not  look  with  pleasure  on 
marriage,  but  that  he  only  tolerated  it ;  that  in  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  "  husband,  wife,  and  children  will  not  know  each 
other;"  "there  will  be  no  distinction  of  sex  there."  Neverthe- 
less he  married,  and  had  a  family  of  children. 

When  a  young  couple  wish  to  marry,  they  consult  the  trustees, 
whose  consent  is  required  in  this  as  in  the  other  emergencies 
of  the  community  life ;  and  the  more  so  as  they  must  provide 
lodgings  or  a  dwelling  for  the  newly  married,  and  furniture 
for  their  housekeeping.  Weddings,  however,  are  economical- 
ly managed,  and  the  parents  of  the  parties  usually  contribute 
of  their  superfluities  for  the  young  couple's  accommodation. 

When  marriages  began  among  them,  a  rule  was  adopted 
that  the  children  should  remain  in  the  care  of  their  parents 
until  they  were  three  years  old ;  at  which  time  they  were 
placed  in  large  houses,  the  girls  in  one,  boys  in  another,  where 
they  were  brought  up  under  the  care  of  persons  especially  ap- 
pointed for  that  purpose ;  nor  did  they  ever  again  come  under 
the  exclusive  control  of  their  parents.  This  singular  custom, 
which  is  practiced  also  by  the  Oneida  communists,  lasted  at 
Zoar  until  the  year  1845,  when  it  was  found  inconvenient. 


CHURCH  AT  ZOAR. 


SCHOOL -HOUSE  AT  ZOAR. 


The  Society  of  Separatists  at  Zoar.  1 09 

The  sixty  or  seventy  young  persons  under  twenty-one  now 
in  the  community  live  with  their  parents.  Until  the  age  of 
fifteen  they  are  sent  to  school,  and  a  school  is  maintained  all  the 
year  round.  Usually  the  instruction  has  been  in  German ;  but 
when  I  visited  Zoar  they  had  an  American  teacher. 

On  the  blackboard,  when  I  visited  the  school,  a  pupil  had 
just  completed  an  example  in  proportion,  concerning  the  di- 
vision of  property  among  heirs ;  and  I  thought  how  remarkable 
it  is  that  the  community  life  ever  lasts,  in  any  experiment,  be- 
yond the  first  generation,  when  even  the  examples  by  which 
children  of  a  community  are  taught  arithmetic  refer  to  divis- 
ion of  property  and  individual  owrership,  and  every  piece  of 
literature  they  read  tends  to  inculcate  the  love  of  "  me  "  and 
"  mine."  I  do  not  wonder  that  general  literary  studies  are  not 
encouraged  in  many  communities.  As  for  the  Zoar  people, 
they  are  not  great  readers,  except  of  the  Bible  and  the  few  pi- 
ous books  which  they  brought  over  from  Germany,  or  have 
imported  since. 

The  Zoar  communists  belong  to  the  peasant  class  of  South- 
ern Germany.  They  are  therefore  unintellectual ;  and  they 
have  not  risen  in  culture  beyond  their  original  condition.  Nor 
were  their  leaders  men  above  the  general  level  of  the  rank  and 
file  ;  for  Baumeler  has  left  upon  the  society  no  marks  to  show 
that  he  strove  for  or  desired  a  higher  life  here,  or  that  he  in 
the  least  valued  beauty,  or  even  what  we  Americans  call  com- 
fort. The  little  town  of  Zoar,  though  founded  fifty-six  years 
ago,  has  yet  no  foot  pavements ;  it  remains  without  regularity 
of  design ;  the  houses  are  for  the  most  part  in  need  of  paint ; 
and  there  is  about  the  place  a  general  air  of  neglect  and  lack 
of  order,  a  shabbiness,  which  I  noticed  also  in  the  Aurora  com- 
munity in  Oregon,  and  which  shocks  one  who  has  but  lately 
visited  the  Shakers  and  the  Rappists. 

The  Zoarites  have  achieved  comfort — according  to  the  Ger- 
man peasant's  notion  —  and  wealth.  They  are  relieved  from 


1 10     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

severe  toil,  and  have  driven  the  wolf  permanently  from  their 
doors.  Much  more  they  might  have  accomplished ;  but  they 
have  not  been  taught  the  need  of  more.  They  are  sober,  quiet, 
and  orderly,  very  industrious,  economical,  and  the  amount  of 
ingenuity  and  business  skill  which  they  have  developed  is  quite 
remarkable. 

Comparing  Zoar  and  Aurora  with  Economy,  I  saw  the  ex- 
treme importance  and  value  in  such  an  experiment  of  leaders 
with  ideas  at  least  a  step  higher  than  those  of  their  people. 
There  is  about  Economy  a  tasteful  finish  which  shows  a  desire 
for  something  higher  than  mere  bread  and  butter,  a  neatness 
and  striving  for  a  higher  kind  of  comfort,  which  makes  Econ- 
omy a  model  town,  while  the  other  two,  though  formed  by  peo- 
ple generally  of  the  same  social  plane,  are  far  below  in  the 
scale. 

Yet,  when  I  had  left  Zoar,  and  was  compelled  to  wait  for  an 
hour  at  the  railroad  station,  listening  to  men  cursing  in  the 
presence  of  women  and  children ;  when  I  saw  how  much 
roughness  there  is  in  the  life  of  the  country  people,  I  conclud- 
ed that,  rude  and  uninviting  as  the  life  in  Zoar  seemed  to  me, 
it  was  perhaps  still  a  step  higher,  more  decent,  more  free  from 
disagreeables,  and  upon  a  higher  moral  scale,  than  the  average 
life  of  the  surrounding  country.  And  if  this  is  true,  the  com- 
munity life  has  even  ,here  achieved  moral  results,  as  it  certain- 
ly has  material,  worthy  of  the  effort. 

Moreover,  considering  the  dull  and  lethargic  appearance  of 
the  people,  I  was  struck  with  surprise  that  they  have  been  able 
to  manage  successfully  complicated  machinery,  and  to  carry 
on  several  branches  of  manufacture  profitably.  Their  machine 
shop  makes  and  repairs  all  their  own  machinery ;  their  grist- 
mills have  to  compete  with  those  of  the  surrounding  country ; 
their  cattle,  horses,  and  sheep — of  the  latter  they  keep  no  less 
than  1400  head — are  known  as  the  best  in  the  county ;  their 
hotel  is  a  favorite  summer  resort;  their  store  supplies  the 


The  Society  of  Separatists  at  Zoar.  1 1 1 

neighborhood  ;  and  they  have  found  among  themselves  ability 
enough  to  conduct  successfully  all  these  and  several  other  call- 
ings, all  of  which  require  both  working  skill  and  business  acute- 
ness. 

They  rise  at  six,  or  in  summer  at  daylight,  breakfast  at  sev- 
en, dine  at  twelve,  and  sup  at  six.  During  the  long  summer 
days  they  have  two  "  bites  "  between  meals.  They  do  not  eat 
pork,  and  a  few  refrain  entirely  from  meat.  They  use  both 
tea  and  coffee,  and  drink  also  cider  and  beer.  Tobacco  is  for- 
bidden, but  it  is  used  by  some  of  the  younger  people.  In  the 
winter  they  labor  in  their  shops  after  supper  until  eight  o'clock. 

Each  family  cooks  for  itself ;  but  they  have  a  general  bake- 
house, and  make  excellent  bread.  They  have  no  general  laun- 
dry. They  have  led  water  into  the  village  from  a  reservoir  on 
a  hill  beyond.  Most  of  the  houses  accommodate  several  fami- 
lies, but  each  manages  its  own  affairs.  Tea,  coffee,  sugar,  and 
other  "  groceries,"  are  served  out  to  all  householders  once  a 
week.  The  young  girls  are  taught  to  sew,  knit,  and  spin,  and 
to  do  the  work  of  the  household.  The  boys,  when  they  leave 
school,  are  taught  trades  or  put  on  the  farm. 

In  their  religious  observances  they  studiously  avoid  forms. 
On  Sunday  they  have  three  meetings.  In  the  morning  there 
is  singing,  after  which  the  leading  trustee  reads  one  of  Baum- 
eler's  discourses,  which  they  are  careful  not  to  call  sermons. 
In  the  afternoon  there  is  a  children's  meeting,  where  there  is 
singing,  and  reading  in  the  Bible.  In  the  evening  they  meet 
to  sing  and  hear  reading  from  some  work  which  interests  them. 
They  do  not  practice  audible  or  public  prayer.  There  are  no 
religious  meetings  during  the  week ;  but  the  boys  meet  occa- 
sionally to  practice  music,  as  they  have  a  band.  The  church 
has  an  organ,  and  several  of  the  houses  have  pianos.  They 
.do  not  allow  dancing.  There  is  no  "  preacher,"  or  clergyman. 
They  have  printed  a  hymn-book,  which  is  used  in  their  wor- 
ship. 


1 1 2     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Baumeler  had  some  knowledge  of  homoeopathy,  and  was 
during  his  life  the  physician  of  the  community,  and  they  still 
use  the  system  of  medicine  which  he  introduced  among  them. 
Like  all  the  communists  I  have  known,  they  are  long-lived. 
A  number  of  members  have  lived  to  past  eighty — the  oldest 
now  is  ninety-one ;  and  he,  strangely  enough,  is  an  American, 
a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  who,  after  a  roving  life  in  the 
West,  at  last,  when  past  fifty,  became  a  Shaker,  and  after  eleven 
years  among  that  people,  came  to  Zoar  twenty -eight  years  ago, 
and  has  lived  here  ever  since.  The  old  fellow  showed  the 
shrewd  intelligence  of  the  Yankee,  asking  me  whether  we  New- 
Yorkers  were  likely  after  all  to  beat  the  Tammany  Ring ;  and 
declaring  his  belief  that  the  Roman  Catholics  were  the  worst 
enemies  of  the  United  States.  He  appeared  to  be,  what  a 
person  of  his  age  usually  is  if  he  retain  his  faculties,  a  sort  of 
adviser-general ;  he  sat  in  the  common  room  of  the  hotel,  and 
when  any  one  came  in  he  asked  him  about  his  business,  and 
gave  him  advice  what  to  do. 

The  oldest  German  member  is  now  eighty-six;  and  there 
are  still  between  thirty  and  forty  people  who  came  over  from 
Germany  with  Baumeler.  The  latter  died  in  1853,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-five. 

Most  of  the  members  now  are  middle-aged  people,  and  the 
society  is  prosperous.  Thirty-five  years  ago,  however,  it  had 
double  the  number  it  now  counts.  Occasionally  members 
leave ;  and  in  the  society's  early  days  it  had  much  trouble  and 
suffered  some  losses  from  suits  for  wages  brought  against  it  by 
dissatisfied  persons.  Hence  the  stringent  terms  of  the  cove- 
nant. 

They  use  neither  Baptism  nor  the  Lord's  Supper. 

In  summer  the  women  labor  in  the  fields,  to  get  in  hay,  po- 
tatoes, and  in  harvesting  the  grain. 

They  address  each  other  only  by  the  first  name,  use  no 
title  of  any  kind,  and  say  thou  (du)  to  all.  Also  they  keep 


The  Society  of  Separatists  at  Zoar.  1 1 3 

their  hats  on  in  a  public  room.  The  church  has  two  doors, 
one  for  the  women,  the  other  for  the  men,  and  the  sexes  sit 
on  different  sides  of  the  house. 

The  hotel  contains  a  queer,  old-fashioned  bar,  at  which  the 
general  public  may  drink  beer,  cider,  or  California  wine.  In 
the  evening  the  sitting-room  is  filled  with  the  hired  laborers 
of  the  society,  and  with  the  smoke  of  their  pipes. 

Such  is  Zoar.  Its  people  would  not  attract  attention  any 
where ;  they  dress  and  look  like  common  laborers ;  their  lead- 
ing trustee,  Jacob  Ackermann,  who  has  carried  on  the  affairs 
of  the  society  for  thirty  years  and  more,  might  easily  be 
taken  for  a  German  farm-hand.  It  is  the  more  wonderful  to 
compare  the  people  with  what  they  have  achieved.  Their 
leader  and  founder  taught  them  self-sacrifice,  a  desire  for 
heavenly  things,  temperance,  or  moderation  in  all  things,  pref- 
erence of  others  to  themselves,  contentment — and  these  vir- 
tues, together  with  a  prudence  in  the  management  of  their  af 
fairs  which  has  kept  them  out  of  debt  since  they  paid  for 
their  land,  and  uprightness  in  their  agents  which  has  protected 
them  against  defalcations,  have  wrought,  with  very  humble  in- 
telligence, and  very  narrow  means  at  the  beginning,  the  result 
one  now  sees  at  Zoar. 


THE   SHAKERS 


T  H  E  .8  H  A  K  E  R  S. 


THE  Shakers  have  the  oldest  existing  communistic  societies 
on  this  continent.  They  are  also  the  most  thoroughly  organ- 
ized, and  in  some  respects  the  most  successful  and  flourishing. 

Mount  Lebanon,  the  parent  society,  and  still  the  thriftiest, 
was  established  in  1792,  eighty-two  years  ago. 

The  Shakers  have  eighteen  societies,  scattered  over  seven 
states;  but  each  of  these  societies  contains  several  families; 
and  as  each  "family"  is  practically,  and  for  all  pecuniary 
and  property  ends,  a  distinct  commune,  there  are  in  fact  fifty- 
eio-ht  Shaker  communities,  which  I  have  found  to  be  in  a  more 

O  ' 

or  less  prosperous  condition.  These  fifty-eight  families  con- 
tain an  aggregate  population  of  2415  souls,  and  own  real  estate 
amounting  to  about  one  hundred  thousand  acres,  of  which 
nearly  fifty  thousand  are  in  their  own  home  farms. 

Moreover,  the  Shakers  have,  as  will  be  seen  further  on,  a 
pretty  thoroughly  developed  and  elaborate  system  of  theology ; 
and  a  considerable  literature  of  their  own,  to  which  they  at- 
tach great  importance. 

The  Shakers  are  a  celibate  order,  composed  of  men  and 
women  living  together  in  what  they  call  "families,"  and  hav- 
ing agriculture  as  the  base  of  their  industry,  though  most  of 
them  unite  with  this  one  or  more  other  avocations.  They 
have  a  uniform  style  of  dress ;  call  each  other  by  their  first 
names ;  say  yea  and  nay,  but  not  thee  or  thou ;  and  their  so- 
cial habits  have  led  them  to  a  generally  similar  style  of  house 


1 1 8     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

architecture,  whose  peculiarity  is  that  it  seeks  only  the  useful, 
and  cares  nothing  for  grace  or  beauty,  and  carefully  avoids 
ornament. 

They  are  pronounced  Spiritualists,  and  hold  that  "  there  is 
the  most  intimate  connection  and  the  most  constant  com- 
munion between  themselves  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  world 
of  spirits." 

They  assert  that  the  second  appearance  of  Christ  upon  earth 
has  been ;  and  that  they  are  the  only  true  Church, "  in  which 
revelation,  spiritualism,  celibacy,  oral  confession,  community, 
non-resistance,  peace,  the  gift  of  healing,  miracles,  physical 
health,  and  separation  from  the  world  are  the  foundations  of 
the  new  heavens."  * 

In  practical  life  they  are  industrious,  peaceful,  honest,  highly 
ingenious,  patient  of  toil,  and  extraordinarily  cleanly. 

Finally,  they  are  to  a  large  extent  of  American  birth,  and 
English  is,  of  course,  their  language. 


II. — "MOTHER  ANN." 

The  "  Millennial  Church,  or  United  Society  of  Believers, 
commonly  called  Shakers,"  was  formally  organized  at  New 
Lebanon,  a  village  in  Columbia  County,  New  York,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1787,  three  years  after  the  death  of  Ann  Lee,  whose 
followers  they  profess  themselves,  and  whom  they  revere  as 
the  second  appearance  of  Christ  upon  this  earth,  holding  that 
Christ  appeared  first  in  the  body  of  Jesus. 

Ann  Lee,  according  to  the  account  of  her  accepted  among 
and  published  by  the  Shakers,  was  an  English  woman,  born  of 
humble  parents  in  Manchester,  February  29th,  1736.  Her  fa- 
ther was  a  blacksmith ;  she  was  one  of  eight  children  ;  in  her 

*  "  Autobiography  of  a  Shaker,"  etc.,  by  Elder  Frederick  W.  Evans. 


The  Shakers.  119 


childhood  she  was  employed  in  a  cotton  factory,  and  later  as 
a  cutter  of  hatters'  fur.  She  was  also  at  one  time  cook  in  a 
Manchester  infirmary ;  and  to  the  day  of  her  death  she  could 
neither  read  nor  write. 

About  the  year  1747,  some  members  of  the  Society  of 
Quakers,  under  the  influence  of  a  religious  revival,  formed 
themselves  into  a  society,  at  the  head  of  which  was  a  pious 
couple,  Jane  and  James  Wardley.  To  these  people  Ann  Lee 
and  her  parents  joined  themselves  in  1758,  Ann  being  then 
twenty-three  years  of  age  and  unmarried.  These  people  suf- 
fered persecution  from  the  ungodly,  and  some  of  them  were 
even  cast  into  prison,  on  account  of  certain  unusual  and  vio- 
lent manifestations  of  religious  fervor,  which  caused  them  to 
receive  the  name  of  "  Shaking  Quakers ;"  and  it  was  while 
Ann  Lee  thus  lay  in  jail,  in  the  summer  of  1770,  that  "  by  a 
special  manifestation  of  divine  light  the  present  testimony  of 
salvation  and  eternal  life  was  fully  revealed  to  her,"  and  by 
her  to  the  society, "  by  whom  she  from  that  time  was  acknowl- 
edged as  mother  in  Christ,  and  by  them  was  called  Mother 
Ann"*  She  saw  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  his  glory,  who 
revealed  to  her  the  great  object  of  her  prayers,  and  fully  sat- 
isfied all  the  desires  of  her  soul.  The  most  astonishing  visions 
and  divine  manifestations  were  presented  to  her  view  in  so 
clear  and  striking  a  manner  that  the  whole  spiritual  world 
seemed  displayed  before  her.  In  these  extraordinary  mani- 
festations she  had  a  full  and  clear  view  of  the  mystery  of  in- 
iquity, of  the  root  and  foundation  of  human  depravity,  and  of 
the  very  act  of  transgression  committed  by  the  first  man  and 
woman  in  the  garden  of  Eden.  Here  she  saw  whence  and 
wherein  all  mankind  were  lost  from  God,  and  clearly  realized 
the  only  possible  way  of  recovery ."f  "  By  the  immediate  rev- 

*  "  Shakers'  Compendium  of  the  Origin,  History,  etc.,  with  Biographies 
of  Ann  Lee,"  etc.  By  F.  W.  Evans,  1859. 

t  "  A  Summary  View  of  the  Millennial  Church,"  etc.     Albany,  1848. 


1 20     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

elation  of  Christ,  she  henceforth  bore  an  open  testimony  against 
the  lustful  gratifications  of  the  flesh  as  the  source  and  founda- 
tion of  human  corruption  ;  and  testified,  in  the  most  plain  and 
pointed  manner,  that  no  soul  could  follow  Christ  in  the  regen- 
eration while  living  in  the  works  of  natural  generation,  or  in 
any  of  the  gratifications  of  lust."* 

In  a  volume  of  "  Hymns  and  Poems  for  the  Use  of  Believ- 
ers" (Watervliet,  Ohio,  1833),  Adam  is  made  to  confess  the  nat- 
ure of  his  transgression  and  the  cause  of  his  fall,  in  a  dialogue 
with  his  children : 

"  First  Adam  being  dead,  yet  speaketh,  in  a  dialogue  with  his  children. 
"Children.  First  Father  Adarn,  where  art  thou  ? 

With  all  thy  num'rous  fallen  race; 
We  must  demand  an  answer  now, 

For  time  hath  stript  our  hiding-place. 
Wast  thou  in  nature  made  upright — 
Fashion'd  and  plac'd  in  open  light? 
"•Adam.  Yea  truly  I  was  made  upright: 

This  truth  I  never  have  deni'd, 
And  while  I  liv'd  I  lov'd  the  light, 

But  I  transgressed  and  then  I  died. 
Ye've  heard  that  I  transgressed  and  fell — 
This  ye  have  heard  your  fathers  tell. 

liCh.  Pray  tell  us  how  this  sin  took  place — 

This  myst'ry  we  could  never  scan, 
That  sin  has  sunk  the  human  race, 

And  all  brought  in  by  the  first  man. 
'Tis  said  this  is  our  heavy  curse — 
Thy  sin  imputed  unto  us. 
"Ad.  When  I  was  plac'd  on  Eden's  soil, 

I  liv'd  by  keeping  God's  commands — 
To  keep  the  garden  all  the  while, 

And  labor,  working  with  my  hands. 
I  need  not  toil  beyond  my  pow'r, 
Yet  never  waste  one  precious  hour. 

*  "  A  Summary  View  of  the  Millennial  Church,"  etc. 


The  Shakers.  1 2 1 


u  But  in  a  careless,  idle  frame, 

I  gazed  about  on  what  was  made : 
And  idle  hands  will  gather  shame, 

And  wand'ring  eyes  confuse  the  head : 
I  dropp'd  my  hoe  and  pruning-knife, 
To  view  the  beauties  of  my  wife. 

uAn  idle  beast  of  highest  rank 

Came  creeping  up  just  at  that  time, 

And  show'd  to  Eve  a  curious  prank, 
Affirming  that  it  was  no  crime: — 

4  Ye  shall  not  die  as  God  hath  said — 

Tis  all  a  sham,  be  not  afraid.' 

"All  this  was  pleasant  to  the  eye, 

And  Eve  affirm'd  the  fruit  was  good ; 
So  I  gave  up  to  gratify 
The  .meanest  passion  in  my  blood. 

0  horrid  guilt !  I  was  afraid : 

1  was  condemn'd,  yea  I  was  dead. 

"  Here  ends  the  life  of  the  first  man, 

Your  father  and  his  spotless  bride; 
God  will  be  true,  his  word  must  stand — 

The  day  I  sinn'd  that  day  I  died : 
This  was  my  sin,  this  was  my  fall ! — 
This  your  condition,  one  and  all. 

"Ch.  How  can  these  fearful  things  agree 

With  what  we  read  in  sacred  writ — 
That  sons  and  daughters  sprung  from  thee, 

Endu'd  with  wisdom,  power,  and  wit ; 
And  all  the  nations  fondly  claim 
Their  first  existence  in  thy  name  ? 

4  lAd.  Had  you  the  wisdom  of  that  beast 

That  took  my  headship  by  deceit, 
I  could  unfold  enough  at  least 

To  prove  your  lineage  all  a  cheat. 
Your  pedigree  you  do  not  know, 
The  SECOND  ADAM  told  you  so. 


122     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"  When  I  with  guile  was  overcome, 
And  fell  a  victim  to  the  beast, 
My  station  first  he  did  assume, 

Then  on  the  spoil  did  richly  feast. 
Soon  as  the  life  had  left  my  soul, 
He  took  possession  of  the  whole. 

"He  plunder' d  all  my  mental  pow'rs, 
My  visage,  stature,  speech,  and  gait ; 

And,  in  a  word,  in  a  few  hours, 
He  was  first  Adam  placed  in  state : 

He  took  my  wife,  he  took  my  name ; 

All  but  his  nature  was  the  same. 

"  Now  see  him  hide,  and  skulk  about, 
Just  like  a  beast,  and  even  worse, 

Till  God  in  anger  drove  him  out, 
And  doom'd  him  to  an  endless  curse. 

O  hear  the  whole  creation  groan ! 

The  Man  of  Sin  has  took  the  throne ! 

"Now  in  my  name  this  beast  can  plead, 

How  God  commanded  him  at  first 
To  multiply  his  wretched  seed, 

Through  the  base  medium  of  his  lust. 
O  horrid  cheat !   O  subtle  plan ! 
A  hellish  beast  assumes  the  man  ! 

"  This  is  your  father  in  my  name  : 
Your  pedigree  ye  now  may  know : 

He  early  from  perdition  came, 
And  to  perdition  he  must  go. 

And  all  his  race  with  him  shall  share 

Eternal  darkness  and  despair." 

The  same  theory  of  the  fall*  is  stated  in  another  hymn 


*  It  is  curious  that  the  Jewish  Talmud  (according  to  Eisenmenger)  has 
a  somewhat  similar  theory — namely,  that  Eve  cohabited  with  devils  for 
a  period  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  years ;  and  that  Cain  was  not  the 
child  of  Adam,  but  of  one  of  these  devils. 


The  Shakers.  123 


"  We  read,  when  God  created  man, 
He  made  him  able  then  to  stand 
United  to  his  Lord's  command 

That  he  might  be  protected ; 
But  when,  through  Eve,  he  was  deceiv'd, 
And  to  his  wife  in  lust  had  cleav'd, 
And  of  forbidden  fruit  receiv'd. 

He  found  himself  rejected. 

"  And  thus,  we  see.  death  did  begin, 
When  Adam  first  fell  into  sin, 
And  judgment  on  himself  did  bring, 

Which  he  could  not  dissemble  : 
Old  Adam  then  began  to  plead, 
And  tell  the  cause  as  you  may  read ; 
But  from  his  sin  he  was  not  freed, 

Then  he  did  fear  and  tremble. 

"  Compeird  from  Eden  now  to  go, 
Bound  in  his  sins,  with  shame  and  woe, 
And  there  to  feed  on  things  below — 

His  former  situation : 
For  he  was  taken  from  the  earth, 
And  blest  with  a  superior  birth, 
But,  dead  in  sin,  he's  driven  forth 

From  his  blest  habitation. 

uNow  his  lost  state  continues  still, 
In  all  who  do  their  fleshly  will, 
And  of  their  lust  do  take  their  fill, 

And  say  they  are  commanded : 
Thus  they  go  forth  and  multiply, 
And  so  they  plead  to  justify 
Their  basest  crimes,  and  so  they  try 
To  ruin  souls  more  candid." 

The  "way  of  regeneration"  is  opened  in  another  hymn  in 
the  same  collection : 


1 24     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"  Victory  over  the  Man  of  Sin. 
"  Souls  that  hunger  for  salvation, 

And  have  put  their  sins  away, 
Now  may  find  a  just  relation, 

If  they  cheerfully  obey  ; 
They  may  find  the  new  creation. 

And  may  boldly  enter  in 
By  the  door  of  free  salvation, 
And  subdue  the  Man  of  Sin. 

"Thus  made  free  from  that  relation, 

Which  the  serpent  did  begin, 
Trav'ling  in  regeneration, 

Having  pow'r  to  cease  from  sin ; 
Dead  unto  a  carnal  nature, 

From  that  tyrant  ever  free, 
Singing  praise  to  our  Creator, 

For  this  blessed  jubilee. 

"  Sav'd  from  passions,  too  inferior 

To  command  the  human  soul ; 
Led  by  motives  most  superior, 

Faith  assumes  entire  control : 
Joined  in  the  new  creation, 

Living  souls  in  union  run, 
Till  they  find  a  just  relation 

To  the  First-born  two  in  one. 

"But  this  prize  can  not  be  gained. 

Neither  is  salvation  found, 
Till  the  Man  of  Sin  is  chained, 

And  the  old  deceiver  bound. 
All  mankind  he  has  deceived, 

And  still  binds  them  one  and  all, 
Save  a  few  who  have  believed, 

And  obey'd  the  Gospel  call. 

"  By  a  life  of  self-denial, 

True  obedience  and  the  cross, 
We  may  pass  the  fiery  trial, 
Which  does  separate  the  dross. 


The  Shakers.  125 


If  we  bear  our  crosses  boldly, 

Watch  and  ev'ry  evil  shun, 
We  shall  find  a  body  holy, 

And  the  tempter  overcome. 

*  *        *        *        *        * 

"By  a  pois'nous  fleshly  nature, 

This  dark  world  has  long  been  led ; 
There  can  be  no  passion  greater — 

This  must  be  the  serpent's  head : 
On  our  coast  he  would  be  cruising, 

If  by  truth  he  were  not  bound : 
But  his  head  has  had  a  bruising, 

And  he's  got  a  deadly  wound. 

''And  his  wounds  can  not  be  healed, 

Light  and  truth  do  now  forbid, 
Since  the  Gospel  has  revealed 

Where  his  filthy  head  was  hid: 
With  a  fig-leaf  it  was  cover'd, 

Till  we  brought  his  deeds  to  light  : 
By  his  works  he  is  discover'd, 

And  his  head  is  plain  in  sight." 

It  should  be  said  that  Ann  Lee  had  married  previously  to 
these  manifestations,  her  husband  being  Abraham  Stanley,  like 
her  father,  a  blacksmith.  By  him  she  had  four  children,  all  of 
whom  died  in  infancy.  It  is  related  that  she  showed  from  girl- 
hood a  decided  repugnance  to  the  married  state,  and  married 
only  on  the  long-continued  and  urgent  persuasion  of  her  friends : 
and  after  1770  she  seems  to  have  returned  to  her  parents. 

She  and  her  followers  were  frequently  abused  and  perse- 
cuted ;  and  in  1773  "  she  was  by  a  direct  revelation  instructed 
to  repair  to  America ;"  and  it  is  quaintly  added  that  "  per- 
mission was  given  for  all  those  of  the  society  who  were  able, 
and  who  felt  any  special  impressions  on  their  own  minds  so 
to  do,  to  accompany  her."*  She  had  announced,  says  the 

*  "  Shakers'  Compendium." 


126     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

same  authority,  that  "  the  second  Christian  Church  would  be 
established  in  America;  that  the  colonies  would  gain  their  in- 
dependence ;  and  that  liberty  of  conscience  would  be  secured 
to  all  people,  whereby  they  would  be  able  to  worship  God 
without  hinderance  or  molestation."  Accordingly  Ann  Lee 
embarked  at  Liverpool  in  May,  1774,  eight  persons  accompany- 
ing her,  six  men  and  two  women,  among  them  her  husband 
and  a  brother  and  niece.  They  landed  in  New  York  in  Au- 
gust ;  and,  after  some  difficulties  and  hardships  on  account  of 
poverty,  finally  settled  in  what  appears  to  have  been  then  a 
wilderness,  "  the  woods  of  Watervliet,  near  Niskeyuna,  about 
seven  miles  northwest  of  Albany."  In  the  mean  time  Ann 
Lee  had  supported  herself  by  washing  and  ironing  in  New 
York,  and  her  husband  had  misconducted  himself  so  grossly 
toward  her  that  they  finally  separated,  he  going  off  with  an- 
other woman. 

At  Niskeyuna,  Ann  Lee  and  her  companions  busied  them- 
selves in  clearing  land  and  providing  for  their  subsistence. 
They  lived  in  the  woods,  and  Ann  was  their  leader  and  preacher. 
She  foretold  to  them  that  the  time  was  near  when  they  should 
see  a  large  accession  to  their  numbers ;  but  they  had  so  long  to 
wait  that  their  hearts  sometimes  failed  them.  They  settled 
at  Watervliet  in  September,  1775,  and  it  was  not  until  1780 
that,  by  a  curious  chance,  their  doctrines  were  at  last  brought 
to  the  knowledge  of  persons  inclined  to  receive  them. 

In  the  spring  of  that  year  there  occurred  at  New  Lebanon 
a  religious  revival,  chiefly  among  the  Baptists,  who  had  a 
church  in  that  neighborhood.  Some  of  the  subjects  of  this 
revival  wandered  off,  seeking  light  and  comfort  from  strangers, 
and  found  the  settlement  of  which  Ann  Lee  was  the  chief.  Her 
doctrines,  which  inculcated  rigid  self-denial  and  repression  of 
the  passions,  were  at  once  embraced  by  them ;  they  brought 
others  to  hear  Ann  Lee's  statements,  and  thus  a  beginning 
was  at  last  made. 


The  Shakers.  127 


JSew  Lebanon,  where  the  new  converts  lived,  lies  upon  the 
border  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut ;  and  into  these  states, 
particularly  the  first,  the  new  doctrine  spread.  Ann  Lee,  now 
called  by  her  people  Mother  Ann,  or  more  often  Mother,  travel- 
ed from  place  to  place,  preaching  and  advising ;  in  Massachu- 
setts she  appears  to  have  remained  two  years.  It  is  asserted, 
too,  that  she  performed  miracles  at  various  places,  healing  the 
sick  by  laying  on  of  hands,  and  revealing  to  others  their  wick- 
edness and  concealed  sins.  For  instance : 

"  Mary  Southwick,  of  Hancock  [in  Massachusetts,  where 
there  was  a  colony  of  Ann  Lee's  followers],  testifies:  That 
about  the  beginning  of  August,  1783  (being  then  in  the  twenty- 
first  year  of  her  age),  she  was  healed  of  a  cancer  in  her  mouth, 
which  had  been  growing  two  years,  and  which  for  about  three 
weeks  had  been  eating,  attended  with  great  pain  and  a  con- 
tinual running,  and  which  occasioned  great  weakness  and  loss 
of  appetite. 

"  That  she  went  one  afternoon  to  see  Calvin  Harlowe,  to  get 
some  assistance ;  that  Mother  being  at  the  house,  Calvin  asked 
her  to  look  at  it.  That  she  accordingly  came  to  her,  and  put 
her  finger  into  her  mouth  upon  the  cancer;  at  which  instant 
the  pain  left  her,  and  she  was  restored  to  health,  and  was  never 
afflicted  with  it  afterward. 

"  Taken  from  the  mouth  of  the  said  Mary  Southwick,  the 
'23d  day  of  April,  1808.  In  presence  of  Jennet  Davis,  Rebec- 
ca Clarke,  Daniel  Cogswell,  Daniel  Goodrich,  and  Seth  Y. 
Wells.  (Signed)  MARY  SOUTHWICK." 

The  volume  from  which  this  formal  statement  is  extracted* 
contains  a  number  of  similar  affidavits,  which  show  that  mi- 
raculous powers  of  healing  diseases  are  claimed  to  have  been 

*  "  Testimony  of  Christ's  Second  Appearing,"  etc.  Published  by  the 
United  Society  of  Shakers.  Albany,  1 856.  [The  first  edition  was  printed 
in  1808.] 


128   Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

exercised  during  Ann  Lee's  life,  not  only  by  her,  but  by  her 
chief  followers,  Elder  William  Lee  her  brother,  John  Hock- 
nell,  Joseph  Markham,  and  others. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Ann  Lee  made  any  attempts  to  settle 
her  followers  in  colonies  or  communities,  or  that  she  inter- 
rupted the  family  life,  except  that  she  insisted  on  celibacy. 
But  she  seems  to  have  gathered  her  followers  in  congregations, 
because  she  from  the  first  required,  as  a  sign  of  true  repentance 
and  a  condition  of  admission,  that  "  oral  confession  of  all  the 
sins  of  the  past  life,  to  God,  in  the  presence  of  an  elder  brother," 
which  is  still  one  of  the  most  rigorous  rules  of  the  order. 

She  is  reported  to  have  said :  "  When  I  confessed  my  sins, 
I  labored  to  remember  the  time  when  and  the  place  where  I 
committed  them.  And  when  I  had  confessed  them  [to  Jane 
and  James  Wardley,  in  Manchester],  I  cried  to  God  to  know 
if  my  confession  was  accepted ;  and  by  crying  to  God  contin- 
ually I  traveled  out  of  my  loss."*  Also  she  said :  "  The  first 
step  of  obedience  that  any  of  you  can  take  is  to  confess  your 
sins  to  God  before  his  witnesses."  "  To  those  who  came  to 
confess  to  her  she  said :  '  If  you  confess  your  sins,  you  must 
confess  them  to  God ;  we  are  but  his  witnesses.'  To  such  as 
asked  her  forgiveness,  she  used  to  say :  '  I  can  freely  forgive 
you,  and  I  pray  God  to  forgive  yon.  It  is  God  that  forgives 
you  ;  I  am  but  your  fellow-servant.'  "f 

Ann  Lee  died  at  Watervliet,  N.  Y.,  on  the  8th  of  September, 
1784,  in  the  forty -ninth  year  of  her  age. 

In  the  "  Summary  View  of  the  Millennial  Church,"  as  well 
as  in  some  other  works  published  by  the  Shakers,  there  are 
recorded  details  of  her  life  and  conversation,  from  which  one 
gets  the  idea  that  she  was  a  woman  of  practical  sense,  sincere- 
ly pious,  and  humble-minded.  She  was  "rather  below  the 
common  stature  of  woman,  thickset  but  straight,  and  other- 

*  u  Shakers'  Compendium."  A  "  Summary  View,"  etc. 


The  Shakers.  129 


wise  well-proportioued  and  regular  in  form  and  feature.  Her 
complexion  was  light  and  fair,  and  her  eyes  were  blue,  but 
keen  and  penetrating;  her  countenance  mild  and  expressive, 
but  grave  and  solemn.  Her  manners  were  plain,  simple,  and 
easy.  She  possessed  a  certain  dignity  of  appearance  that  in- 
spired confidence  and  commanded  respect.  By  many  of  the 
world  who  saw  her  without  prejudice  she  was  called  beautiful ; 
and  to  her  faithful  children  she  appeared  to  possess  a  degree 
of  dignified  beauty  and  heavenly  love  which  they  had  never 
before  discovered  among  mortals."*  She  never  learned  to  read 
or  write.  Aside  from  her  strictly  religious  teachings,  she  ap- 
pears to  have  inculcated  upon  her  followers  the  practical  vir- 
tues of  honesty,  industry,  frugality,  charity,  and  temperance. 
"  Put  your  hands  to  work  and  give  your  hearts  to  God."  "  You 
ought  never  to  speak  to  your  children  in  a  passion ;  for  if  you 
do,  you  will  put  devils  into  them."  "  Do  all  your  work  as 
though  you  had  a  thousand  years  to  live ;  and  as  you  would  if 
you  knew  you  must  die  to-morrow."  "  You  can  never  enter 
the  kingdom  of  God  with  hardness  against  any  one,  for  God  is 
love,  and  if  you  love  God  you  will  love  one  another."  "  Be 
diligent  with  your  hands,  for  godliness  does  not  lead  to  idle- 
ness." "  You  ought  not  to  cross  your  children  unnecessarily, 
for  it  makes  them  ill-natured."  To  a  woman :  "  You  ought  to 
dress  yourself  in  modest  apparel,  such  as  becomes  the  people 
of  God,  and  teach  your  family  to  do  likewise.  You  ought  to 
be  industrious  and  prudent,  and  not  live  a  sumptuous  and  glut- 
tonous life,  but  labor  for  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,  and  see  that 
your  family  is  kept  decent  and  regular  in  all  their  goings 
forth,  that  others  may  see  your  example  of  faith  and  good 
works,  and  acknowledge  the  work  of  God  in  your  family."  To 
some  farmers  who  had  gathered  at  Ashfield,  in  Massachusetts, 
in  the  winter,  to  listen  to  her  instructions :  "  It  is  now  spring 

*  "  Summary  View." 

K 


1 30    Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 


of  the  year,  and  you  have  all  had  the  privilege  of  being  taught 
the  way  of  God  ;  and  now  you  may  all  go  home  arid  be  faith- 
ful with  your  hands.  Every  faithful  man  will  go  forth  and 
put  up  his  fences  in  season,  and  will  plow  his  ground  in  sea- 
son, and  put  his  crops  into  the  ground  in  season  ;  and  such  a 
man  may  with  confidence  look  for  a  blessing." 

These  are  some  of  the  sayings  reported  of  her.  They  are 
not  remarkable,  except  as  showing  that  with  her  religious  en- 
thusiasm she  united  practical  sense,  which  gave  her  doubtless 
a  power  over  the  people  with  whom  she  came  in  contact,  most- 
ly plain  farmers  and  laborers. 

Mother  Ann  was  succeeded  in  her  rule  over  the  society,  or 
"  Church,"  as  they  preferred  to  call  it,  by  Elder  James  Whittaker, 
one  of  those  who  had  come  over  with  her.  He  was  called 
Father  James  ;  and  under  his  ministry  was  built,  in  1785,  "  the 

first  house  for  public  wor- 
ship ever  built  by  the  so- 
ciety." He  died  at  En- 
field  in  July,  1787,  less 
than  three  years  after 
Mother  Ann  ;  and  was 
succeeded  by  Joseph 
Meacham,  an  American, 
a  native  of  Connecticut, 
in  'early  life  a  Baptist 
preacher;  and  with  him 
was  associated  Lucy 

ag  «  fog  firgt  lea(J. 


THE  FIRST   SHAKEK  CHURCH,  AT  MOUNT  LEBA- 
NON,  NOW  A  SEED-HOUSE. 

ing  character  in  the  fe- 

male line,"  as  the  "Summary"  quaintly  expresses  it.  She 
was  a  native  of  Pittsfield,  in  Massachusetts.  Joseph  Meach- 
am died  in  1796,  at  the  age  of  fifty-four,  and  it  seems  that 
Lucy  Wright  then  succeeded  to  the  entire  administration  and 
"  lead  of  the  society."  She  died  in  1821,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 


The  Shakers.  131 


one.  "  During  her  administration  the  several  societies  in  the 
states  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky  were  established,  and  large  acces- 
sions were  made  to  the  Eastern  societies."* 

While  Joseph  Meacham  was  elder,  and  in  the  period  between 
1787  and  1792,  eleven  societies  were  formed,  of  which  two 
were  in  New  York,  four  in  Massachusetts,  two  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, two  in  Maine,  and  one  in  Connecticut. 

Meantime,  in  the  first  year  of  this  century  broke  out  in 
Kentucky  a  remarkable  religious  excitement,  lasting  several 
years,  and  attended  with  extraordinary  and  in  some  cases  hor- 
rible physical  demonstrations.  Camp-meetings  were  held  in 
different  counties,  to  which  people  flocked  by  thousands ;  and 
here  men  and  women,  and  even  small  children,  fell  down  in 
convulsions,  foamed  at  the  mouth  and  uttered  loud  cries.  "  At 
first  they  were  taken  with  an  inward  throbbing  of  the  heart ; 
then  with  weeping  and  trembling ;  from  that  to  crying  out  in 
apparent  agony  of  soul ;  falling  down  and  swooning  away,  until 
every  appearance  of  animal  life  was  suspended,  and  the  person 
appeared  to  be  in  a  trance."  "  They  lie  as  though  they  were 
dead  for  some  time,  without  pulse  or  breath,  some  longer,  some 
shorter  time.  Some  rise  with  joy  and  triumph,  others  crying 
for  mercy."  "To  these  encampments  the  people  flocked  by 
hundreds  and  thousands — on  foot,  on  horseback,  and  in  wagons 
and  other  carriages."  At  Cabin  Creek,  in  May,  1801,  a  "  great 
number  fell  on  the  third  night;  and  to  prevent  their  being 
trodden  under  foot  by  the  multitude,  they  were  collected  to- 
gether and  laid  out  in  order  in  two  squares  of  the  meeting- 
house ;  which,  like  so  many  dead  corpses,  covered  a  consider- 
able part  of  the  floor."  At  Concord,  in  Bourbon  County,  in 
June,  1801, "  no  sex  or  color,  class  or  description,  were  exempt- 
ed from  the  pervading  influence  of  the  Spirit ;  even  from  the 
age  of  eight  months  to  sixty  years."  In  August,  at  Cane  Ridge, 


"  Shakers'  Compendium." 


132     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

in  Bourbon  County,  "about  twenty  thousand  people"  were 
gathered ;  and  "  about  three  thousand  "  suffered  from  what  was 
called  "  the  falling  exercise."  These  brief  extracts  are  from 
the  account  of  an  eye-witness,  and  one  who  believed  these 
manifestations  to  be  of  divine  origin.*  The  accuracy  of 
McNemar's  descriptions  is  beyond  question.  His  account  is 
confirmed  by  other  writers  of  the  time. 

Hearing  of  these  extraordinary  events,  the  Shakers  at  New 
Lebanon  sent  out  three  of  their  number — John  Meacham,  Ben- 
jamin S.  Youngs,  and  Issachar  Bates — to  "  open  the  testimony 
of  salvation  to  the  people,  provided  they  were  in  a  situation  to 
receive  it."  They  set  out  on  New- Year's  day,  1805,  and 
traveled  on  foot  about  a  thousand  miles,  through  what  was 
then  a  sparsely  settled  country,  much  of  it  a  wilderness.  They 
made  some  converts  in  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  and  were,  fortu- 
nately for  themselves,  violently  opposed  and  in  some  cases  at- 
tacked by  bigoted  or  knavish  persons ;  and  with  this  impetus 
they  were  able  to  found  at  first  five  societies,  two  in  Ohio,  two 
in  Kentucky,  and  one  in  Indiana.  The  Indiana  society  later 
removed  to  Ohio;  and  two  more  societies  were  afterward 
formed  in  Ohio,  and  one  more  in  New  York. 

All  these  societies  were  founded  before  the  year  1830 ;  and 
no  new  ones  have  come  into  existence  since  then. 

Following  the  doctrines  put  forth  by  Ann  Lee,  and  elabora- 
ted by  her  successors,  they  hold : 

I.  That  God  is  a  dual  person,  male  and  female ;  that  Adam 
was  a  dual  person,  being  created  in  God's,  image ;  and  that 
"  the  distinction  of  sex  is  eternal,  inheres  in  the  soul  itself ; 
and  that  no  angels  or  spirits  exist  who  are  not  male  and  fe- 
male." 

II.  That  Christ  is  a  Spirit,  and  one  of  the  highest,  who  ap- 

*  "  The  Kentucky  Revival,  or  a  Short  History  of  the  late  extraordinary 
Outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  Western  States  of  America,"  etc. 
By  Richard  McNemar.  Turtle  Hill,  Ohio,  1807. 


The  Shakers.  133 


peared  first  in  the  person  of  Jesus,  representing  the  male,  and 
later  in  the  person  of  Ann  Lee,  representing  the  female  ele- 
ment in  God. 

III.  That  the  religious  history  of  mankind  is  divided  into 
four  cycles,  which  are  represented  also  in  the  spirit  world, 
each  having  its  appropriate  heaven  and  hell.     The  first  cycle 
included  the  antediluvians — Noah  and  the  faithful  going  to 
the  first  heaven,  and  the  wicked  of  that  age  to  the  first  hell. 
The  second  cycle  included  the  Jews  up  to  the  appearance  of 
Jesus;  and  the  second  heaven  is  called  Paradise.     The  third 
cycle  included  all  who  lived  until  the  appearance  of  Ann  Lee ; 
Paul  being  "  caught  up  into  the  third  heaven."     The  heaven 
of  the  fourth  and  last  dispensation  "  is  now  in  process  of  forma- 
tion," and  is  to  supersede  in  time  all  previous  heavens.    Jesus, 
they  say,  after  his  death,  descended  into  the  first  hell  to  preach 
to  the  souls  there  confined ;  and  on  his  way  passed  through  the 
second  heaven,  or  Paradise,  where  he  met  the  thief  crucified 
with  him. 

IV.  They  hold  themselves  to  be  the  "  Church  of  the  Last 
Dispensation,"  the  true  Church  of  this  age ;  and  they  believe 
that  the  day  of  judgment, or  "beginning  of  Christ's  kingdom 
on  earth,"  dates  from  the  establishment  of  their  Church,  and 
will  be  completed  by  its  development. 

Y.  They  hold  that  the  Pentecostal  Church  was  established 
on  right  principles;  that  the  Christian  churches  rapidly  and 
fatally  fell  away  from  it ;  and  that  the  Shakers  have  returned 
to  this  original  and  perfect  doctrine  and  practice.  They  say : 
"  The  five  most  prominent  practical  principles  of  the  Pente- 
cost Church  were,  first,  common  property ;  second,  a  life  of  celi- 
bacy; third,  non-resistance;  fourth,  a  separate  and  distinct 
government ;  and,  fifth,  power  over  physical  disease."  To  all 
these  but  the  last  they  have  attained ;  and  the  last  they  con- 
fidently look  for,  and  even  now  urge  that  disease  is  an  offense 
to  God,  and  that  it  is  in  the  power  of  men  to  be  healthful, 
if  they  will. 


1 34     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

VI.  They  reject  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  of  the  bodily 
resurrection,  and  of  an  atonement  for  sins.    They  do  not  wor- 
ship either  Jesus  or  Ann  Lee,  holding  both  to  be  simply  elders 
in  the  Church,  to  be  respected  and  loved. 

VII.  They  are  Spiritualists.    "  We  are  thoroughly  convinced 
of  spirit  communication  and  interpositions,  spirit  guidance  and 
obsession.     Our  spiritualism  has  permitted  us  to  converse,  face 
to  face,  with  individuals  once  mortals,  some  of  whom  we  well 
knew,  and  with  others  born  before  the  flood.*     They  assert 
that  the  spirits  at  first  labored  among  them ;  but  that  in  later 
times  they  have  labored  among  the  spirits ;  and  that  in  the 
lower  heavens  there  have   been  formed   numerous   Shaker 
churches.     Moreover,  "it   should   be   distinctly    understood 
that  special  inspired  gifts  have  not  ceased,  but  still  continue 
among  this  people."     It  follows  from  what  is  stated  above, 
that  they  believe  in  a  "probationary  state  in  the  world  of 
spirits." 

VIII.  They  hold  that  he  only  is  a  true  servant  of  God 
who  lives  a  perfectly  stainless   and  sinless  life  ;   and  they 
add  that  to  this  perfection  of  life  all  their  members  ought  to 
attain. 

IX.  Finally,  they  hold  that  their  Church,  the  Inner  or  Gos- 
pel Order,  as  they  call  it,  is  supported  by  and  has  for  its  com- 
plement the  world,  or,  as  they  say,  the  Outer  Order.     They 
do  not  regard  marriage  and  property  as  crimes  or  disorders, 
but  as  the  emblems  of   a  lower   order  of   society.      And 
they  hold  that  the  world  in  general,  or  the  Outer  Order,  will 
have  the  opportunity  of  purification  in  the  next  world  as  well 
as  here. 

In  the  practical  application  of  this  system  of  religious  faith, 
they  inculcate  a  celibate  life;  "honesty  and  integrity  in  all 

*  "  Plain  Talks  upon  Practical  Religion  ;  being  Candid  Answers,"  etc. 
By  Geo.  Albert  Lomas  (Novitiate  Elder  at  Watervliet).     1873. 


ii  i  mi 
H  minn 

HUH 
mi 


SHAKER  DWELLING— MOUNT  LEBANON. 


GRANITE   DWELLING,  OF   THE  ENFIELD  SHAKERS. 


The  Shakers.  135 

words  and  dealings ;"  "  humanity  and  kindness  to  friend  and 
foe ;"  diligence  in  business ;  prudence,  temperance,  economy, 
frugality, "  but  not  parsimony ;"  "  to  keep  clear  of  debt ;"  suit- 
able education  of  children ;  a  "  united  interest  in  all  things," 
which  means  community  of  goods;  suitable  employment  for 
all ;  and  a  provision  for  all  in  sickness,  infirmity,  and  old  age. 


III. — THE  ORDEE  OF  LIFE  AMONG  THE  SHAKERS. 

A  Shaker  Society  consists  of  two  classes  or  orders :  the  No- 
vitiate and  the  Church  Order.  There  is  a  general  similarity 
in  the  life  of  these  two  ;  but  to  the  Novitiate  families  are  sent 
all  applicants  for  admission  to  the  community  or  Church,  and 
here  they  are  trained ;  and  the  elders  of  these  families  also  re- 
ceive inquiring  strangers,  and  stand  in  somewhat  nearer  rela- 
tions with  the  outer  world  than  the  Church  families. 

To  the  Church  family  or  commune  belong  those  who  have 
determined  to  seclude  themselves  more  entirely  from  contact 
with  the  outer  world ;  and  who  aspire  to  live  the  highest  spirit- 
ual life.  Except  so  far  as  necessary  business  obliges  deacons 
and  care-takers  to  deal  with  the  world,  the  members  of  the 
Church  Order  aim  to  live  apart ;  and  they  do  not  receive  or 
entertain  strangers  or  applicants  for  membership,  but  confine 
their  intercourse  to  members  of  other  societies. 

Formerly  there  was  a  considerable  membership  living  in  the 
world,  maintaining  the  family  relation  so  far  as  to  educate 
children  and  transact  business,  but  conforming  to  the  Shaker 
rule  of  celibacy.  This  was  allowed  because  of  the  difficulty 
of  disposing  of  property,  closing  up  business  affairs,  and  per- 
haps on  account  of  the  unwillingness  of  husband  or  wife  to 
follow  the  other  partner  into  the  Shaker  family.  There  are 
still  such  members,  but  they  are  fewer  in  number  than  former- 
ly. The  Novitiate  elders  and  elderesses  keep  some  oversight, 


1 36     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

by  correspondence  and  by  personal  visits,  over  such  outside 
members. 

The  Shaker  family,  or  commune,  usually  consists  of  from 
thirty  to  eighty  or  ninety  persons,  men  and  women,  with  such 
children  as  may  have  been  apprenticed  to  the  society.  These 
live  together  in  one  large  house,  divided  as  regards  its  upper 
stories  into  rooms  capable  of  accommodating  from  four  to 
eight  persons.  Each  room  contains  as  many  simple  cot-beds 
as  it  has  occupants,  the  necessary  washing  utensils,  a  small  look- 
ing-glass, a  stove  for  the  winter,  a  table  for  writing,  and  a 
considerable  number  of  chairs,  which,  wThen  not  in  use,  are  sus- 
pended from  pegs  along  the  wall.  A  wide  hall  separates  the 
dormitories  of  the  men  from  those  of  the  women.  Strips  of 
home-made  carpet,  usually  of  very  quiet  colors,  are  laid  upon 
the  floors,  but  never  tacked  down. 

On  the  first  floor  are  the  kitchen,  pantry,  store-rooms,  and 
the  common  dining-hall ;  and  in  a  Novitiate  family  there  is 
also  a  small  separate  room,  where  strangers  —  visitors — eat, 
apart  from  the  family. 

Ranged  around  the  family  house  or  dwelling  are  buildings 
for  the  various  pursuits  of  the  society :  the  sisters'  shop,  where 
tailoring,  basket-making,  and  other  female  industries  are  carried 
on ;  the  brothers'  shop,  where  broom-making,  carpentry,  and 
other  men's  pursuits  are  followed ;  the  laundry,  the  stables,  the 
fruit-house,  wood-house,  and  often  machine  shops,  saw-mills,  etc. 

If  you  are  permitted  to  examine  these  shops  and  the  dwell- 
ing of  the  family,  you  will  notice  that  the  most  scrupulous 
cleanliness  is  every  where  practiced ;  if  there  is  a  stove  in  the 
room,  a  small  broom  and  dust-pan  hang  near  it,  and  a  wood-box 
stands  by  it ;  scrapers  and  mats  at  the  door  invite  you  to  make 
clean  your  shoes ;  and  if  the  roads  are  muddy  or  snowy,  a 
broom  hung  up  outside  the  outer  door  mutely  requests  you  to 
brush  off  all  the  mud  or  snow.  The  strips  of  carpet  are  easily 
lifted,  and  the  floor  beneath  is  as  clean  as  though  it  were  a 


The  Shakers. 


137 


SHAKER  WOMEN  AT  WORK. 


table  to  be  eaten  from.  The  walls  are  bare  of  pictures;  not 
only  because  all  ornament  is  wrong,  but  because  frames  are 
places  where  dnst  will  lodge.  The  bedstead  is  a  cot,  covered 
with  the  bedelothing,  and  easily  moved  away  to  allow  of  dust- 
ing and  sweeping.  Mats  meet  you  at  the  outer  door  and  at 
every  inner  door.  The  floors  of  the  halls  and  dining-room  are 
polished  until  they  shine. 

Moreover  all  the  walls,  in  hall  and  rooms,  are  lined  with 
rows  of  wooden  pegs,  on  which  spare  chairs,  hats,  cloaks,  bon- 
nets, and  shawls  are  hung ;  and  you  presently  perceive  that 
neatness,  order,  and  absolute  cleanliness  rule  every  where. 

The  government  or  administration  of  the  Shaker  societies  is 
partly  spiritual  and  partly  temporal.  "  The  visible  Head  of 
the  Church  of  Christ  on  earth  is  vested  in  a  Ministry,  con- 
sisting of  male  and  female,  not  less  than  three,  and  generally 


138     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

four  in  number,  two  of  each  sex.  The  first  in  the  Ministry 
stands  as  the  leading  elder  of  the  society.  Those  who  com- 
pose the  Ministry  are  selected  from  the  Church,  and  appointed 
by  the  last  preceding  head  or  leading  character ;  and  their  au- 
thority is  confirmed  and  established  by  the  spontaneous  union 
of  the  whole  body.  Those  of  the  United  Society  who  are  se- 
lected and  called  to  the  important  work  of  the  Ministry,  to 
lead  and  direct  the  Church  of  Christ,  must  be  blameless  char- 
acters, faithful,  honest,  and  upright,  clothed  with  the  spirit  of 
meekness  and  humility,  gifted  with  wisdom  and  understand- 
ing, and  of  great  experience  in  the  things  of  God.  As  faith- 
ful embassadors  of  Christ,  they  are  invested  with  wisdom  and  au- 
thority, by  the  revelation  of  God,  to  guide,  teach,  and  direct  his 
Church  on  earth  in  its  spiritual  travel,  and  to  counsel  and  advise 
in  other  matters  of  importance,  whether  spiritual  or  temporal. 

"  To  the  Ministry  appertains,  therefore,  the  power  to  appoint 
ministers,  elders,  and  deacons,  and  with  the  elders  to  assign  of- 
fices of  care  and  trust  to  such  brethren  and  sisters  as  they  shall 
judge  to  be  best  qualified  for  the  several  offices  to  which  they 
may  be  assigned.  Such  appointments,  being  communicated  to 
the  members  of  the  Church  concerned,  and  having  received  the 
mutual  approbation  of  the  Church,  or  the  family  concerned,  are 
thereby  confirmed  and  established  until  altered  or  repealed  by 
the  same  authority."* 

"Although  the  society  at  New  Lebanon  is  the  centre  of 
union  to  all  the  other  societies,  yet  the  more  immediate  duties 
of  the  Ministry  in  this  place  extend  only  to  the  two  societies 
of  New  Lebanon  and  Watervliet.  [Groveland  has  since  been 
added  to  this  circle.]  Other  societies  are  under  the  direction 
of  a  ministry  appointed  to  preside  over  them ;  and  in  most  in- 
stances two  or  more  societies  constitute  a  bishopric,  being 
united  under  the  superintendence  of  the  same  ministry." 

*  "  Summary  View,"  etc. 


The  Shakers.  1 39 


Each  society  has  ministers,  in  the  Novitiate  family,  to  in- 
struct and  train  neophytes,  and  to  go  out  into  the  world  to 
preach  when  it  may  be  desirable.  Each  family  has  two  elders, 
male  and  female,  -to  teach,  exhort,  and  lead  the  family  in  spir- 
itual concerns.  It  lias  also  deacons  and  deaconesses,  who 
provide  for  the  support  and  convenience  of  the  family,  and 
regulate  the  various  branches  of  industry  in  which  the  mem- 
bers are  employed,  and  transact  business  with  those  without. 
Under  the  deacons  are  "care-takers,"  who  are  the  foremen 
and  forewomen  in  the  different  pursuits. 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  is  a  complete  and  judicious  system 
of  administration.  It  has  worked,  well  for  a  long  time.  A 
notable  feature  of  the  system  is  that  the  members  do  not  ap- 
point their  rulers,  nor  are  they  consulted  openly  or  directly 
about  such  appointments.  The  Ministry  are  self-perpetuating ; 
and  they  select  and  appoint  all  subordinates,  being  morally, 
but  it  seems  not  otherwise,  responsible  to  the  members. 

Finally,  "  all  the  members  are  equally  holden,  according  to 
their  several  abilities,  to  maintain  one  united  interest,  and 
therefore  all  labor  with  their  hands,  in  some  useful  occupa- 
tion, for  the  mutual  comfort  and  benefit  of  themselves  and 
each  other,  and  for  the  general  good  of  the  society  or  family 
to  which  they  belong.  Ministers,  elders,  and  deacons,  all  with- 
out exception,  are  industriously  employed  in  some  manual  oc- 
cupation, except  in  the  time  taken  up  in  the  necessary  duties 
of  their  respective  callings.?'  So  carefully  is  this  rule  ob- 
served that  even  the  supreme  heads  of  the  Shaker  Church — 
the  four  who  constitute  the  Ministry  at  Mount  Lebanon,  Daniel 
Boler,  Giles  B.  Avery,  Ann  Taylor,  and  Polly  Eeed — labor  at 
basket-making  in  the  intervals  of  their  travels  and  ministra- 
tions, and  have  a  separate  little  "  shop  "  for  this  purpose  near  the 
church.  They  live  in  a  house  built  against  the  church,  and  eat  in 
a  separate  room  in  the  family  of  the  first  order ;  and,  I  believe, 
generally  keep  themselves  somewhat  apart  from  the  people. 


140     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

The  property  of  each  society,  no  matter  of  how  many  fami- 
lies it  is  composed,  is  for  convenience  held  in  the  name  of  the 
trustees,  who  are  usually  members  of  the  Church  family,  or 
first  order;  but  each  family  or  commune  keeps  its  own  ac- 
counts and  transacts  its  business  separately. 

The  Shaker  family  rises  at  half-past  four  in  the  summer, 
and  five  o'clock  in  the  winter;  breakfasts  at  six  or  half-past 
six ;  dines  at  twelve ;  sups  at  six ;  and  by  nine  or  half -past 
all  are  in  bed  and  the  lights  are  out. 

They  eat  in  a  general  hall.  The  tables  have  no  cloth,  or 
rather  are  covered  with  oil-cloth;  the  men  eat  at  one  table, 
women  at  another,  and  children  at  a  third;  and  the  meal  is 
eaten  in  silence,  no  conversation  being  held  at  table.  When 
all  are  assembled  for  a  meal  they  kneel  in  silence  for  a  mo- 
ment ;  and  this  is  repeated  on  rising  from  the  table,  and  on 
rising  in  the  morning  and  before  going  to  bed. 

When  they  get  up  in  the  morning,  each  person  takes  two 
chairs,  and,  setting  them  back  to  back,  takes  off  the  bedcloth- 
ing,  piece  by  piece,  and  folding  each  neatly  once,  lays  it  across 
the  backs  of  the  chairs,  the  pillows  being  first  laid  on  the  seats 
of  the  chairs.  In  the  men's  rooms  the  slops  are  also  carried 
out  of  the  house  by  one  of  them ;  and  the  room  is  then 
left  to  the  women,  who  sweep,  make  the  beds,  and  put  every 
thing  to  rights.  All  this  is  done  before  breakfast;  and  by 
breakfast  time  what  New  -  Englanders  call  "chores"  are  all 
finished,  and  the  day's  work  in  the  shops  or  in  the  fields  may 
begin. 

Each  brother  is  assigned  to  a  sister,  who  takes  care  of  his 
clothing,  mends  when  it  is  needed,  looks  after  his  washing,  tells 
him  when  he  requires  a  new  garment,  reproves  him  if  he  is 
not  orderly,  and  keeps  a  general  sisterly  oversight  over  his 
habits  and  temporal  needs. 

In  cooking,  and  the  general  labor  of  the  dining-room  and 
kitchen,  the  sisters  take  turns ;  a  certain  number,  sufficient  to 


The  Shakers. 


141 


SHAKER    COSTUMES. 


make  the  work  light,  serving  a  month  at  a  time.  The  younger 
sisters  do  the  washing  and  ironing ;  and  the  clothes  which  are 
washed  on  Monday  are  not  ironed  till  the  following  week. 

Their  diet  is  simple  but  sufficient.  Pork  is  never  eaten, 
and  only  a  part  of  the  Shaker  people  eat  any  meat  at  all. 
Many  use  no  food  produced  by  animals,  denying  themselves 
even  milk,  butter,  and  eggs.  At  Mount  Lebanon,  and  in  some 
of  the  other  societies,  two  tables  are  set,  one  with,  the  other 
without  meat.  They  consume  much  fruit,  eating  it  at  every 
meal ;  and  the  Shakers  have  always  fine  and  extensive  vege- 
table gardens  and  orchards. 

After  breakfast  every  body  goes  to  work ;  and  the  "  care- 
takers," who  are  subordinate  to  the  deacons,  and  are  foremen 
in  fact,  take  their  followers  to  their  proper  employments.  When, 
as  in  harvest,  an  extra  number  of  hands  is  needed  at  any  labor, 
it  is  of  course  easy  to  divert  at  once  a  sufficient  force  to  the 
place.  The  women  do  not  labor  in  the  fields,  except  in  such 
light  work  as  picking  berries.  Shakers  do  not  toil  severely. 


144     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 


SHAKER  WORSHIP. — THE  DANCE. 


selves :  this  is  called  gathering  a  blessing.  In  like  manner, 
when  any  brother  or  sister  asks  for  their  prayers  and  sym- 
pathy, they,  reversing  their  hands,  push  toward  him  that 
which  he  asks. 

All  the  movements  are  performed  with  much  precision  and 
in  exact  order ;  their  tunes  are  usually  in  quick  time,  and  the 
singers  keep  time  admirably.  The  words  of  the  elder  guide 
the  meeting ;  and  at  his  bidding  all  disperse  in  a  somewhat 
summary  manner.  It  is,  I  believe,  an  object  with  them  to  vary 
the  order  of  their  meetings,  and  thus  give  life  to  them. 

New  members  are  admitted  with  great  caution.  Usually  a 
person  who  is  moved  to  become  a  Shaker  has  made  a  visit  to 
the  Novitiate  family  of  some  society,  remaining  long  enough 
to  satisfy  himself  that  membership  would  be  agreeable  to  him. 
During  this  preliminary  visit  he  lives  separately  from  the  fam- 
ily, but  is  admitted  to  their  religious  meetings,  and  is  fully  in- 


The  Shakers.  145 


formed  of  the  doctrines,  practices,  and  requirements  of  the 
Shaker  people.  If  then  he  still  desires  admission,  he  is  ex- 
pected to  set  his  affairs  in  order,  so  that  he  shall  not  leave  any 
unfulfilled  obligations  behind  him  in  the  world.  If  he  has 
debts,  they  must  be  paid ;  if  he  has  a  wife,  she  must  freely  give 
her  consent  to  the  husband  leaving  her ;  or  if  it  is  a  woman, 
her  husband  must  consent.  If  there  are  children,  they  must 
be  provided  for,  and  placed  so  as  not  to  suffer  neglect,  either 
within  the  society,  or  with  other  and  proper  persons. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  applicants  for  admission  shall  pos- 
sess property.  The  only  question  the  society  asks  and  seeks 
to  be  satisfied  upon  is,  "  Are  you  sick  of  sin,  and  do  you  want 
salvation  from  it  ?"  A  candidate  for  admission  is  usually  taken 
on  trial  for  a  year  at  least,  in  order  that  the  society  may  be 
satisfied  of  his  fitness ;  of  course  he  may  leave  at  any  time. 

The  first  and  chief  requirement,  on  admission,  is  that  the 
neophyte  shall  make  a  complete  and  open  confession  of.  the 
sins  of  his  whole  past  life  to  two  elders  of  his  or  her  own  sex ; 
and  the  completeness  of  this  confession  is  rigidly  demanded. 
Mother  Ann's  practice  on  this  point  I  have  quoted  elsewhere. 
As  this  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  peculiarities  of  the  Shak- 
er Society,  it  may  be  interesting  to  quote  here  some  passages 
from  their  books  describing  the  detail  on  which  they  insist. 
Elder  George  Albert  Lomas  writes : 

"  Any  one  seeking  admission  as  a  member  is  required,  ere  we  can  give 
any  encouragement  at  all,  to  settle  all  debts  and  contracts  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  creditors ;  and  then  our  rule  is :  If  candid  seekers  after  salvation 
come  to  us,  we  neither  accept  nor  reject  them ;  we  admit  them,  leaving 
the  Spirit  of  Goodness  to  decide  as  to  their  sincerity ;  to  bless  their  efforts, 
if  such,  or  to  make  them  very  dissatisfied  if  hypocritical.  After  becoming 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  our  principles,  we  ask  individuals  to  give 
evidence  of  their  sincerity,  if  really  sick  of  sin,  by  an  honest  confession  of 
every  improper  transaction  or  sin  that  lies  within  the  reach  of  their  mem- 
ory. This  confession  of  sin  to  elders  of  their  own  sex,  appointed  for  the 
purpose,  we  believe  to  be  the  door  of  hope  to  the  soul,  the  Christian  val- 


142     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

They  are  not  in  haste  to  be  rich ;  and  they  have  found  that  for 
their  support,  economically  as  they  live,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
make  labor  painful.  Many  hands  make  light  work ;  and  where 
all  are  interested  alike,  they  hold  that  labor  may  be  made  and 
is  made  a  pleasure. 

Their  evenings  are  well  filled  with  such  diversions  as  they 
regard  wholesome.  Instrumental  music  they  do  not  generally 
allow  themselves,  but  they  sing  well ;  and  much  time  is  spent 
in  learning  new  hymns  and  tunes,  which  they  profess  to  re- 
ceive constantly  from  the  spirit  world.  Some  sort  of  meeting 
of  the  family  is  held  every  evening.  At  Mount  Lebanon,  for 
instance,  on  Monday  evening  there  is  a  general  meeting  in  the 
dining-hall,  where  selected  articles  from  the  newspapers  are 
read,  crimes  and  accidents  being  omitted  as  unprofitable ;  and 
the  selections  consisting  largely  of  scientific  news,  speeches  on 
public  affairs,  and  the  general  news  of  the  world.  They  pre- 
fer such  matter  as  conveys  information  of  the  important  po- 
litical and  social  movements  of  the  day ;  and  the  elder  usually 
makes  the  extracts.  At  this  meeting,  too,  letters  from  other 
societies  are  read.  On  Tuesday  evening  they  meet  in  the  as- 
sembly hall  for  singing,  marching,  etc.  Wednesday  night  is 
devoted  to  a  union  meeting  for  conversation.  Thursday  night 
is  a  "laboring  meeting,"  which  means  the  regular  religious 
service,  where  they  "  labor  to  get  good."  Friday  is  devoted  to 
new  songs  and  hymns  ;  and  Saturday  evening  to  worship.  On 
Sunday  evening,  finally,  they  visit  at  each  other's  rooms,  three 
or  four  sisters  visiting  the  brethren  in  each  room,  by  appoint- 
ment, and  engaging  in  singing  and  in  conversation  upon  gen- 
eral subjects. 

In  their  religious  services  there  is  little  or  no  audible  prayer ; 
they  say  that  God  does  not  need  spoken  words,  and  that  the 
mental  aspiration  is  sufficient.  Their  aim  too,  as  they  say,  is 
to  "  walk  with  God,"  as  with  a  friend ;  and  mental  prayer  may 
be  a  large  part  of  their  lives  without  interruption  to  usual  avo- 
cations. They  do  not  regularly  read  the  Bible. 


The  Shakers.  143 


The  Sunday  service  is  held  either  in  the  "  nieeting-house," 
when  two  or  three  families,  all  composing  the  society,  join  to- 
gether ;  or  in  the  large  assembly  hall  which  is  found  in  every 
family  house.  In  the  meeting-house  there  are  generally  bench- 
es, on  which  the  people  sit  until  all  are  assembled.  In  the  as- 
sembly hall  there  are  only  seats  ranged  along  the  walls ;  and 
the  members  of  the  family,  as  they  enter,  take  their  accustomed 
places,  standing,  in  the  ranks  which  are  formed  for  worship. 
The  men  face  the  women,  the  older  men  and  women  in  the 
front,  the  elders  standing  at  the  head  of  the  first  rank.  A 
somewhat  broad  space  or  gangway  is  left  between  the  two 
front  ranks.  After  the  singing  of  a  hymn,  the  elder  usually 
makes  a  brief  address  upon  holiness  of  living  and  consecra- 
tion to  God;  he  is  followed  by  the  eldress;  and  thereupon 
the  ranks  are  broken,  and  a  dozen  of  the  brethren  and  sisters, 
forming  a  separate  square  on  the  floor,  begin  a  lively  hymn 
tune,  in  which  all  the  rest  join,  marching  around  the  room  to  a 
quick  step,  the  women  following  the  men,  and  all  often  clap- 
ping their  hands. 

The  exercises  are  varied  by  reforming  the  ranks ;  by  speak- 
ing from  men  and  women ;  by  singing ;  and  by  dancing  as 
they  march,  "as  David  danced  before  the  Lord" — the  dance 
being  a  kind  of  shuffle.  Occasionally  one  of  the  members, 
more  deeply  moved  than  the  rest,  or  perhaps  in  some  tribula- 
tion of  soul,  asks  the  prayers  of  the  others ;  or  one  comes  to 
the  front,  and,  bowing  before  the  elder  and  eldress,  begins  to 
whirl,  a  singular  exercise  which  is  sometimes  continued  for  a 
considerable  time,  and  is  a  remarkable  performance.  Then 
some  brother  or  sister  is  impressed  to  deliver  a  message  of 
comfort  or  warning  from  the  spirit-land ;  or  some  spirit  asks 
the  prayers  of  the  assembly :  on  such  occasions  the  elder  asks 
all  to  kneel  for  a  few  moments  in  silent  prayer. 

In  their  marching  and  dancing  they  hold  their  hands  before 
them,  and  make  a  motion  as  of  gathering  something  to  them- 

L' 


146     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

ley  of  Achor,  and  one  which  every  sin-sick  soul  seizes  with  avidity,  as 
being  far  more  comforting  than  embarrassing.  And  this  opportunity  re- 
mains a  permanent  institution  with  us — to  confess,  retract  our  wrongs  as 
memory  may  recall  them ;  and  aids  individuals  in  so  thoroughly  repent- 
ing of  past  sins  that  they  are  enabled  to  leave  them  in  the  rear,  while 
they  pass  on  to  greater  salvations.  It  often  takes  years  for  individuals 
to  complete  this  work  of  thorough  confession  and  repentance ;  but  upon 
this,  more  than  upon  aught  else,  depends  their  success  as  permanent  and 
happy  members.  Those  who  choose  to  use  deceit,  often  do  so,  but  never 
make  reliable  members :  always  uncomfortable  while  they  remain ;  and 
very  few  do  or  can  remain,  unless  they  fulfill  this  important  demand  of 
4  opening  the  mind.'1  If  we  do  not  detect  their  insincerity,  God  does,  and 
they  are  tempted  of  the  devil  beyond  their  wish  to  remain  with  the  Shak- 
ers; while  he  that  confesseth  andfarsaketh  his  sins  shall  find  mercy.  This 
is  not  a  confession  to  mortality,  but  unto  God,  witnessed  by  those  who 
have  thoroughly  experienced  the  practical  results  of  the  ordeal.  '  My 
son,  give  glory  to  the  God  of  heaven  ;  confess  unto  him,  and  tell  me  what 
thou  hast  done.'  "* 

Another  authority  says  on  this  subject : 

"  All  such  as  receive  the  grace  of  God  which  bringeth  salvation,  first 
honestly  bring  their  former  deeds  of  darkness  to  the  light,  by  confessing 
all  their  sins,  with  a  full  determination  to  forsake  them  forever.  By  so 
doing  they  find  justification  and  acceptance  with  God,  and  receive  that 
power  by  which  they  become  dead  indeed  unto  sin,  and  alive  unto  God, 
through  Jesus  Christ,  and  are  enabled  to  follow  his  example,  and  walk 
even  as  he  walked.'1 1 

A  third  writer  reasons  thus  upon  confession  : 

"  As  all  the  secret  actions  of  men  are  open  and  known  to  God,  therefore 
a  confession  made  in  secret,  though  professedly  made  to  God,  can  bring 
nothing  to  light;  and  the  sinner  may  perhaps  have  as  little  fear  of  God 
in  confessing  his  sins  in  this  manner  as  he  had  in  committing  them.  And 
as  nothing  is  brought  to  the  light  by  confessing  his  sins  in  this  manner, 
he  feels  no  cross  in  it ;  nor  does  he  thereby  find  any  mortification  to  that 
carnal  nature  which  first  led  him  into  sin ;  and  is  therefore  liable  to  run 
again  into  the  same  acts  of  sin  as  he  was  before  his  confession.  But  let 

*  "Plain  Talks  on  Practical  Religion,"  etc. 

f  "  Christ's  First  and  Second  Appearing.     By  Shakers." 


The  Shakers.  147 


the  sinner  appecir  in  the  presence  of  a  faithful  servant  of  Christ,  and  there 
confess  honestly  his  every  secret  sin,  one  by  one,  of  whatever  nature  or 
name,  and  faithfully  lay  open  his  whole  life,  without  any  covering  or  dis- 
guise, and  he  will  then  feel  a  humiliating  sense  of  himself,  in  the  presence 
of  God,  in  a  manner  which  he  never  experienced  before.  He  will  then, 
in  very  deed,  find  a  mortifying  cross  to  his  carnal  nature,  and  feel  the  cru- 
cifixion of  his  lust  and  pride  where  he  never  did  before.  He  will  then 
perceive  the  essential  difference  between  confessing  his  sins  in  the  dark, 
where  no  mortal  ear  can  hear  him,  and  actually  bringing  his  evil  deeds  to 
the  light  of  one  individual  child  of  God ;  and  he  will  then  be  convinced 
that  a  confession  made  before  the  light  of  God  in  one  of  his  true  witness- 
es can  bring  upon  him  a  more  awful  sense  of  his  accountability  both  to 
God  and  man  than  all  his  confessions  in  darkness  had  ever  done."* 

Community  of  property  is  one  of  the  leading  principles  of 
the  Shakers.  "  It  is  an  established  principle  of  faith  in  the 
Church,  that  all  who  are  received  as  members  thereof  do  freely 
and  voluntarily,  of  their  own  deliberate  choice,  dedicate,  devote, 
and  consecrate  themselves,  with  all  they  possess,  to  the  service 
of  God  forever."  In  accordance  with  this  rule,  the  neophyte 
brings  with  him  his  property ;  but  as  he  is  still  on  trial,  and 
may  prove  unfit,  or  find  himself  uncomfortable,  he  is  not  al- 
lowed to  give  up  his  property  unreservedly  to  the  society; 
but  only  its  use,  agreeing  that  so  long  as  he  remains  he  will 
require  neither  wages  for  his  labor  nor  interest  for  that  which 
he  brought  in.  On  these  terms  he  may  remain  as  long  as  he 
proves  his  fitness.  But  when  at  last  he  is  moved  to  enter  the 
higher  or  Church  order,  he  formally  makes  over  to  the  society, 
forever,  and  without  power  of  taking  it  back,  all  that  he  owns. 
The  articles  of  agreement  by  which  he  does  this  read  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  We  solemnly  and  conscientiously  dedicate,  devote,  and  give 
up  ourselves  and  services,  together  with  all  our  temporal  in- 
terest, to  God  and  his  people ;  to  be  under  the  care  and  direc- 
tion of  such  elders,  deacons,  or  trustees  as  have  been  or  may 

*  "  Summary  View,"  etc. 


148     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

hereafter  be  established  in  the  Church,  according  to  the  first 
article  of  this  Covenant. 

"  We  further  covenant  and  agree  that  it  is  and  shall  be  the 
special  duty  of  the  deacons  and  trustees,  appointed  as  afore- 
said, to  have  the  immediate  charge  and  oversight  of  all  and 
singular  the  property,  estate,  and  interest  dedicated,  devoted, 
and  given  up  as  aforesaid ;  and  it  shall  also  be  the  duty  of  the 
said  deacons  and  trustees  to  appropriate,  use,  and  improve  the 
said  united  interest  for  the  benefit  of  the  Church,  for  the  relief 
of  the  poor,  and  for  such  other  charitable  and  religious  pur- 
poses as  the  Gospel  may  require  and  the  said  deacons  or 
trustees  in  their  wisdom  shall  see  fit;  Provided  nevertheless, 
that  all  the  transactions  of  the  said  deacons  or  trustees,  in  their 
use,  management,  and  disposal  of  the  aforesaid  united  interest, 
shall  be  for  the  benefit  and  privilege,  and  in  behalf  of  the 
Church  (to  which  the  said  deacons  or  trustees  are  and  shall  be 
held  responsible),  and  not  for  any  personal  or  private  interest, 
object,  or  purpose  whatsoever. 

"  As  the  sole  object,  purpose,  and  design  of  our  uniting  in  a 
covenant  relation,  as  a  Church  or  body  of  people,  in  Gospel 
union,  was  from  the  beginning,  and  still  is,  faithfully  and  hon- 
estly to  receive,  improve,  arid  diffuse  the  manifold  gifts  of 
God,  both  of  a  spiritual  and  temporal  nature,  for  the  mutual 
protection,  support,  comfort,  and  happiness  of  each  other,  as 
brethren  and  sisters  in  the  Gospel,  and  for  such  other  pious 
and  charitable  purposes  as  the  Gospel  may  require ;  Therefore 
we  do,  by  virtue  of  this  Covenant,  solemnly  and  conscientious- 
ly, jointly  and  individually,  for  ourselves,  our  heirs,  and  assigns, 
promise  and  declare,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  each  other, 
and  to  all  men,  that  we  will  never  hereafter,  neither  directly 
nor  indirectly,  make  nor  require  any  account  of  any  interest, 
property,  labor,  or  service  which  has  been,  or  which  may  be 
devoted  by  us  or  any  of  us  to  the  purposes  aforesaid;  nor 
bring  any  charge  of  debt  or  damage,  nor  hold  any  demand 


The  Shakers.  149 


whatever  against  the  Church,  nor  against  any  member  or  mem- 
bers thereof,  on  account  of  any  property  or  service  given, 
rendered,  devoted,  or  consecrated  to  the  aforesaid  sacred  and 
charitable  purpose." 

As  under  this  agreement  or  covenant  no  accounts  can  be 
demanded,  so  the  societies  and  families  have  no  annual  or 
business  meetings,  nor  is  any  business  report  ever  made  to  the 
members. 

Agriculture  and  horticulture  are  the  foundations  of  all  the 
communes  or  families;  but  with  these  they  have  united 
some  small  manufactures.  For  instance,  some  of  the  families 
make  brooms,  others  dry  sweet  corn,  raise  and  put  up  garden 
seeds,  make  medicinal  extracts ;  make  mops,  baskets,  chairs ; 
one  society  makes  large  casks,  and  so  on.  A  complete  list  of 
these  industries  in  all  the  societies  will  be  found  further  on. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  range  is  not  great. 

Besides  this,  they  aim,  as  far  as  possible,  to  supply  their  own 
needs.  Thus  they  make  all  their  own  clothing,  and  formerly 
made  also  their  own  woolen  cloths  and  flannels.  They  make 
shoes,  do  all  their  own  carpentering,  and,  as  far  as  is  convenient, 
raise  the  food  they  consume.  They  have  usually  fine  barns, 
and  all  the  arrangements  for  working  are  of  the  best  and  most 
convenient.  For  instance,  at  Mount  Lebanon  the  different  fam- 
ilies saw  their  firewood  by  a  power-saw,  and  store  it  in  huge 
wood-houses,  that  it  may  be  seasoned  before  it  is  used.  In 
their  farming  operations  they  spare  no  pains ;  but,  working 
slowly  year  after  year,  redeem  the  soil,  clear  it  of  stones,  and 
have  clean  tillage.  They  are  fond  of  such  minute  and  careful 
culture  as  is  required  in  raising  garden  seeds.  They  keep  fine 
stock,  and  their  barns  are  usually  admirably  arranged  to  save 
labor. 

Their  buildings  are  always  of  the  best,  and  kept  in  the  best 
order  and  repair. 

Their  savings  they  invest  chiefly  in  land  ;  and  many  families 


1 50     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

own  considerable  estates  outside  of  their  own  limits.  In  the 
cultivation  of  these  outlying  farms  they  employ  hired  laborers, 
and  build  for  them  comfortable  houses.  About  Lebanon,  I  am 
told,  a  farmer  who  is  in  the  employ  of  the  Shakers  is  consid- 
ered a  fortunate  man,  as  they  are  kind  and  liberal  in  their 
dealings.  Every  where  they  have  the  reputation  of  being 
strictly  honest  and  fair  in  all  their  transactions  with  the  world's 
people. 

The  dress  of  the  men  is  remarkable  for  a  very  broad,  stiff- 
brimmed,  white  or  gray  felt  hat,  and  a  long  coat  of  light  blue. 
The  women  wear  gowns  with  many  plaits  in  the  skirt ;  and  a 
singular  head-dress  or  cap  of  light  material,  which  so  com- 
pletely hides  the  hair,  and  so  encroaches  upon  the  face,  that 
a  stranger  is  at  first  unable  to  distinguish  the  old  from  the 


SISTEUS   IN  EVERY-DAT   COSTUME. 


The  Shakers.  1 5 1 


young.  Out  of  doors  they  wear  the  deep  sun-bonnet  known  in 
this  country  commonly  as  a  Shaker  bonnet.  They  do  not  pro- 
fess to  adhere  to  a  uniform  ;  but  have  adopted  what  they  find 
to  be  a  convenient  style  of  dress,  and  will  not  change  it  until 
they  find  something  better. 


IV. — A  VISIT  TO  MOUNT  LEBANON. 

It  was  on  a  bleak  and  sleety  December  day  that  I  made 
my  first  visit  to  a  Shaker  family.  As  I  came  by  appoint- 
ment, a  brother,  whom  I  later  found  to  be  the  second  elder  of 
the  family,  received  me  at  the  door,  opening  it  silently  at  the 
precise  moment  when  I  had  reached  the  vestibule,  and,  silently 
bowing,  took  my  bag  from  my  hand  and  motioned  me  to  follow 
him.  We  passed  through  a  hall  in  which  I  saw  numerous  bon- 
nets, cloaks,  and  shawls  hung  up  on  pegs,  and  passed  an  empty 
dining -hall,  and  out  of  a  door  into  the  back  yard,  crossing 
which  we  entered  another  house,  and,  opening  a  door,  my  guide 
welcomed  me  to  the  "  visitors'  room."  "  This,"  said  he,  "  is 
where  you  will  stay.  A  brother  will  come  in  presently  to 
speak  with  you."  And  with  a  bow  my  guide  noiselessly  slip- 
ped out,  softly  closed  the  door  behind  him,  and  I  was  alone. 

I  found  myself  in  a  comfortable  low-ceiled  room,  warmed 
by  an  air-tight  stove,  and  furnished  with  a  cot-bed,  half  a 
dozen  chairs,  a  large  wooden  spittoon  filled  with  saw-dust, 
a  looking-glass,  and  a  table.  The  floor  was  covered  with  strips 
of  rag  carpet,  very  neat  and  of  a  pretty,  quiet  color,  loosely  laid 
down.  Against  the  wall,  near  the  stove,  hung  a  dust-pan, 
shovel,  dusting-brush,  and  small  broom.  A  door  opened  into 
an  inner  room,  which  contained  another  bed  and  conveniences 
for  washing.  A  closet  in  the  wall  held  matches,  soap,  and 
other  articles.  Every  thing  was  scrupulously  neat  and  clean. 
On  the  table  were  laid  a  number  of  Shaker  books  and  news- 


152     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

papers.  In  one  corner  of  the  room  was  a  bell,  used,  as  I  after- 
ward discovered,  to  summon,  the  visitor  to  his  meals.  As  I 
looked  out  of  a  window,  I  perceived  that  the  sash  was  fitted 
with  screws,  by  means  of  which  the  windows  could  be  so  se- 
cured as  not  to  rattle  in  stormy  weather ;  while  the  lower  sash 
of  one  window  was  raised  three  or  four  inches,  and  a  strip  of 
neatly  fitting  plank  was  inserted  in  the  opening — this  allowed 
ventilation  between  the  upper  and  lower  sashes,  thus  prevent- 
ing a  direct  draught,  while  securing  fresh  air. 

I  was  still  admiring  these  ingenious  little  contrivances,  when, 
with  a  preliminary  knock,  entered  to  me  a  tall,  slender  young 
man,  who,  hanging  his  broad-brimmed  hat  on  a  peg,  announced 
himself  to  me  as  the  brother  who  was  to  care  for  me  during 
my  stay.  He  was  a  Swede,  a  student  of  the  university  in  his 
own  country,  and  a  person  of  intelligence,  some  literary  cult- 
ure, and  I  should  think  of  good  family.  His  attention  had 
been  attracted  to  the  Shakers  by  Mr.  Dixon's  book, "  The  New 
America ;"  he  had  come  over  to  examine  the  organization,  and 
had  found  it  so  much  to  his  liking  that,  coming  as  a  visitor,  he 
had  remained  as  a  member.  He  had  been  here  six  or  seven 
years.  He  had  a  fresh,  fine  complexion,  as  most  of  the  Shaker 
men  and  women  have — particularly  the  latter ;  his  hair  was 
cut  in  the  Shaker  fashion,  straight  across  the  forehead^  and 
suffered  to  grow  long  behind,  and  he  wore  the  long,  blue-gray 
coat,  a  collar  without  a  neck-tie,  and  the  broad  -  brimmed 
whitish-gray  felt  hat  of  the  order.  His  voice  was  soft  and  low, 
his  motions  noiseless,  his  conversation  in  a  subdued  tone,  his 
smile  ready ;  but  his  expression  was  that  of  one  who  guarded 
himself  against  the  world,  with  which  he  was  determined  to  have 
nothing  to  do.  Frank  and  communicative  he  was,  too,  though 
I  do  not  doubt  that  my  tireless  questioning  sometimes  bored 
him.  Such  as  I  have  described  him  I  have  found  all  or  nearly 
all  the  Shaker  people — polite,  patient,  noiseless  in  their  motions 
except  during  their  "meetings"  or  worship,  when  they  are 


ELDEH   FREDERICK   W.  EVANS. 


The  Shakers.  153 


sometimes  quite  noisy ;  scrupulously  neat,  and  much  given  to 
attend  to  their  own  business. 

The  Sabbath  quiet  and  stillness  which  prevailed  I  attributed 
to  the  fact  that  there  had  been  a  death  in  the  family,  and  the 
funeral  was  to  be  held  that  morning ;  but  I  discovered  after- 
wards that  an  eternal  Sabbath  stillness  reigns  in  a  Shaker 
family — there  being  no  noise  or  confusion,  or  hum  of  busy  in- 
dustry at  any  time,  although  they  are  a  most  industrious 
people. 

While  the  Swedish  brother  was,  in  answer  to  my  questions, 
giving  me  some  account  of  himself,  to  us  came  Elder  Frederick, 
the  head  of  the  North  or  Gathering  Family  at  Mount  Leb- 
anon, and  the  most  noted  of  all  the  Shakers,  because  he,  often- 
er  than  any  other,  has  been  sent  out  into  the  world  to  make 
known  the  society's  doctrines  and  practice. 

Frederick  W.  Evans  is  an  Englishman  by  birth,  and  was  a 
"  reformer  "  in  the  old  times,  when  men  in  this  country  strove 
for  "  land  reform,"  the  rights  of  labor,  and  against  the  United 
States  Bank  and  other  monopolies  of  forty  or  fifty  years  ago. 
He  is  now  sixty-six  years  of  age,  but  looks  not  more  than  fifty ; 
was  brought  to  this  country  at  the  age  of  twelve;  became  a 
socialist  in  early  life,  and,  after  trying  life  in  several  communi- 
ties which  perished  early,  at  last  visited  the  Shakers  at  Mount 
Lebanon,  and  after  some  months  of  trial  and  examination, 
joined  the  community,  and  has  remained  in  it  ever  since — 
about  forty -five  years. 

He  is  both  a  writer  and  a  speaker;  and  while  not  college 
bred,  has  studied  and  read  a  good  deal,  and  has  such  natural 
abilities  as  make  him  a  leader  among  his  people,  and  a  man  of 
force  any  where.  He  is  a  person  of  enthusiastic  and  aggres- 
sive temperament,  but  with  a  practical  and  logical  side  to  his 
mind,  and  with  a  hobby  for  science  as  applied  to  health,  com- 
fort, and  the  prolongation  of  life.  In  person  he  is  tall,  with  a 
stoop  as  though  he  had  overgrown  his  strength  in  early  life; 


154     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

with  brown  eyes,  a  long  nose,  a  kindly,  serious  face,  and  an  at- 
tractive manner.    He  was  dressed  rigidly  in  the  Shaker  costume. 


VIEW   OF  A  SHAKER  VILLAGE. 


Mount  Lebanon  lies  beautifully  among  the  hills  of  Berk- 
shire, two  and  a  half  miles  from  Lebanon  Springs,  and  seven 
miles  from  Pittsfield.  The  settlement  is  admirably  placed  on 
the  hillside  to  which  it  clings,  securing  it  good  drainage,  abun- 
dant water,  sunshine,  and  the  easy  command  of  water-power. 
Whoever  selected  the  spot  had  an  excellent  eye  for  beauty 
and  utility  in  a  country  site.  The  views  are  lovely,  broad,  and 
varied ;  the  air  is  pure  and  bracing ;  and,  in  short,  a  company 
of  people  desiring  to  seclude  themselves  from  the  world  could 
hardly  have  chosen  a  more  delightful  spot. 

As  you  drive  up  the  road  from  Lebanon  Springs,  the  first 
building  belonging  to  the  Shaker  settlement  which  meets  your 
eye  is  the  enormous  barn  of  the  North  Family,  said  to  be  the 
largest  in  the  three  or  four  states  which  near  here  come  to- 
gether, as  in  its  interior  arrangements  it  is  one  of  the  most 


The  Shakers.  155 


complete.  This  huge  structure  lies  on  a  hillside,  and  is  two 
hundred  and  ninety-six  feet  long  by  fifty  wide,  and  five  stories 
high,  the  upper  story  being  on  a  level  with  the  main  road,  and 
the  lower  opening  on  the  fields  behind  it.  Next  to  this  lies 
the  sisters'  shop,  three  stories  high,  used  for  the  women's  in- 
dustries ;  and  next,  on  the  same  level,  the  family  house,  one 
hundred  feet  by  forty,  and  five  stories  high.  Behind  these 
buildings,  which  all  lie  directly  on  the  main  road,  is  another 
set — an  additional  dwelling-house,  in  which  are  the  visitors' 
room  and  several  rooms  where  applicants  for  admission  re- 
main while  they  are  on  trial;  near  this  an  enormous  wood- 
shed, three  stories  high ;  below  a  carriage-house,  wagon  sheds, 
the  brothers'  shop,  where  different  industries  are  carried  on, 
such  as  broom -making  and  putting  up  garden  seeds;  and 
farther  on,  the  laundry,  a  saw-mill  and  grist-mill  and  other  ma- 
chinery, and  a  granary,  with  rooms  for  hired  men  over  it.  The 
whole  establishment  is  built  on  a  tolerably  steep  hillside. 


THE   HERB-HOUSE,  MOUNT  LEBANON. 


A  quarter  of  a  mile  farther  on  are  the  buildings  of  the 
Church  Family,  and  also  the  great  boiler-roofed  church  of  the 
society ;  and  other  communes  or  families  are  scattered  along, 
each  having  all  its  interests  separate,  and  forming  a  distinct 


156     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

community,  with  industries  of  its  own,  and  a  complete  organ- 
ization for  itself. 


MEETING-HOUSE  AT  MOUNT  LEBANON. 


The  illustrations  show  sufficiently  the  character  of  the  dif- 
ferent buildings  and  the  style  of  architecture,  and  make  more 
detailed  description  needless.  It  need  only  be  said  that  where- 
as on  Mount  Lebanon  they  build  altogether  of  wood,  in  other 
settlements  they  use  also  brick  and  stone.  But  the  peculiar 
nature  of  their  social  arrangements  leads  them  to  build  very 
large  houses. 

Elder  Frederick  came  to  give  me  notice  that  I  was  permitted 
to  witness  the  funeral  ceremonies  of  the  departed  sister,  which 
were  set  for  ten  o'clock,  in  the  assembly-room ;  and  thither  I 
was  accordingly  conducted  at  the  proper  time  by  one  of  the 
brethren.  The  members  came  into  the  room  rapidly,  and  ranged 
themselves  in  ranks,  the  men  and  women  on  opposite  sides 
of  the  room,  and  facing  eacli  other.  All  stood  up,  there  being 
no  seats.  A  brief  address  by  Elder  Frederick  opened  the  serv- 


The  Shaker s.  157 


INTERIOR  OF  MEETING-HOUSE  AT  MOUNT  LEBANON. 

ices,  after  which  there  was  singing;  different  brethren  and 
sisters  spoke  briefly;  a  call  was  made  to  the  spirit  of  the  de- 
parted to  communicate,  and  in  the  course  of  the  meeting  a 
medium  delivered  some  words  supposed  to  be  from  this  source; 
some  memorial  verses  were  read  by  one  of  the  sisters ;  and  then 
the  congregation  separated,  after  notice  had  been  given  that 
the  body  of  the  dead  sister  would  be  placed  in  the  hall,  where 
all  could  take  a  last  look  at  her  face.  I,  too,  was  asked  to  look; 
the  good  brother  who  conducted  me  to  the  plain,  unpainted 
pine  coffin  remarking  very  sensibly  that  "  the  body  is  not  of 
much  importance  after  it  is  dead." 

Afterwards,  in  conversation,  Elder  Frederick  told  me  that 
the  "  spiritual "  manifestations  were  known  among  the  Shakers 
many  years  before  Kate  Fox  was  born ;  that  they  had  had  all 
manner  of  manifestations,  but  chiefly  visions  and  communica- 
tions through  mediums ;  that  they  fell,  in  his  mind,  into  three 
epochs :  in  the  first  the  spirits  laboring  to  convince  unbelievers 
in  the  society ;  in  the  second  proving  the  community,  the  spirits 
relating  to  each  member  his  past  history,  and  showing  up,  in 
certain  cases,  the  insincerity  of  professions ;  in  the  third,  he 
said,  the  Shakers  reacted  on  the  spirit  world,  and  formed  com- 
munities of  Shakers  there,  under  the  instruction  of  living 

M 


158     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Shakers.  "  There  are  at  this  time,"  said  he, "  many  thousands 
of  Shakers  in  the  spirit  world."  He  added  that  the  mediums 
in  the  society  had  given  much  trouble  because  they  imagined 
themselves  reformers,  whereas  they  were  only  the  mouth-pieces 
of  spirits,  and  oftenest  themselves  of  a  low  order  of  mind. 
They  had  to  teach  the  mediums  much,  after  the  spirits  ceased 
to  use  them. 

In  what  follows  I  give  the  substance,  and  often  the  words, 
of  many  conversations  with  Elder  Frederick  and  with  several 
of  the  brethren,  relating  to  details  of  management  and  to  doc- 
trinal points  and  opinions,  needed  to  fill  up  the  sketch  given  in 
the  two  previous  chapters. 

As  to  new  members,  Elder  Frederick  said  the  societies  had 
not  in  recent  years  increased — some  had  decreased  in  numbers. 
But  they  expected  large  accessions  in  the  course  of  the  next 
few  years,  having  prophecies  among  themselves  to  that  effect. 
Religious  revivals  he  regarded  as  "  the  hot-beds  of  Shakerism :" 
they  always  gain  members  after  a  "  revival "  in  any  part  of  the 
country.  "  Our  proper  dependence  for  increase  is  on  the  spirit 
and  gift  of  God  working  outside.  Hence  we  are  friendly  to 
all  religious  people." 

They  had  changed  their  policy  in  regard  to  taking  children, 
for  experience  had  proved  that  when  these  grew  up  they  were 
oftenest  discontented,  anxious  to  gain  property  for  themselves, 
curious  to  see  the  world,  and  therefore  left  the  society.  For 
these  reasons  they  now  almost  always  decline  to  take  children, 
though  there  are  some  in  every  society;  and  for  these  they  have 
schools — a  boys'  school  in  the  winter  and  a  girls'  school  in  sum- 
mer— teaching  all  a  trade  as  they  grow  up.  "When  men  or 
women  come  to  us  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  or  twenty-two,  then 
they  make  the  best  Shakers.  The  society  then  gets  the  man's 
or  woman's  best  energies,  and  experience  shows  us  that  they 
have  then  had  enough  of  the  world  to  satisfy  their  curiosity  and 
make  them  restful.  Of  course  we  like  to  keep  up  our  num- 


The  Shakers.  159 


bers ;  but  of  course  we  do  not  sacrifice  our  principles.  You  will 
be  surprised  to  know  that  we  lost  most  seriously  during  the  war. 
A  great  many  of  our  younger  people  went  into  the  army ;  many 
who  fought  through  the  war  have  since  applied  to  come  back 
to  us ;  and  where  they  seem  to  have  the  proper  spirit,  we  take 
them.  We  have  some  applications  of  this  kind  now." 

A  great  many  Revolutionary  soldiers  joined  the  societies  in 
their  early  history;  these  did  not  draw  their  pensions;  most 
of  them  lived  to  be  old,  and  "  I  proved  to  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr. 
Stanton  once,  when  we  were  threatened  with  a  draft,"  said 
Elder  Frederick,  "  that  our  members  had  thus  omitted  to  draw 
from  the  government  over  half  a  million  of  dollars  due  as  pen- 
sions for  army  service." 

With  their  management,  he  said,  they  had  not  much  difficul- 
ty in  sloughing  off  persons  who  come  with  bad  or  low  motives ; 
and  in  this  I  should  say  he  was  right ;  for  the  life  is  strictly 
ascetic,  and  has  no  charms  for  the  idler  or  for  merely  senti- 
mental or  romantic  people.  "  If  one  comes  with  low  motives, 
he  will  not  be  comfortable  with  us,  and  will  presently  go 
away ;  if  he  is  sincere,  he  may  yet  be  here  a  year  or  two  be- 
fore he  finds  himself  in  his  right  place ;  but  if  he  has  the  true 
vocation  he  will  gradually  work  in  with  us." 

He  thought  an  order  of  celibates  ought  to  exist  in  every 
Protestant  community,  and  that  its  members  should  be  self- 
supporting,  and  not  beggars ;  that  the  necessities  and  conscience 
of  many  in  every  civilized  community  would  be  relieved  if 
there  were  such  an  order  open  to  them. 

In  admitting  members,  no  property  qualification  is  made; 
and  in  practice  those  who  come  in  singly,  from  time  to  time, 
hardly  ever  possess  any  thing  ;  but  after  a  great  revival  of  re- 
ligion, when  numbers  come  in,  usually  about  half  bring  in  more 
or  less  property,  and  often  large  amounts. 

As  to  celibacy,  he  asserted  in  the  most  positive  manner  that 
it  is  healthful,  and  tends  to  prolong  life;  "  as  we  are  constant- 


160     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

ly  proving."  He  afterward  gave  me  a  file  of  the  Shaker,  a 
monthly  paper,  in  which  the  deaths  in  all  the  societies  are  re- 
corded; and  I  judge  from  its  reports  that  the  death  rate  is 
low,  and  the  people  mostly  long-lived.*  "  We  look  for  a  tes- 
timony against  disease,"  he  said ;  "  and  even  now  I  hold  that  no 
man  who  lives  as  we  do  has  a  right  to  be  ill  before  he  is  sixty ; 
if  he  suffer  from  disease  before  that,  he  is  in  fault.  My  life 
has  been  devoted  to  introducing  among  our  people  a  knowl- 
edge of  true  physiological  laws ;  and  this  knowledge  is  spread- 
ing among  all  our  societies.  We  are  not  all  perfect  yet  in 
these  respects ;  but  we  grow.  Formerly  fevers  were  prevalent 
in  our  houses,  but  now  we  scarcely  ever  have  a  case ;  and  the 
cholera  has  never  yet  touched  a  Shaker  village." 

"  The  joys  of  the  celibate  life  are  far  greater  than  I  can 
make  you  know.  They  are  indescribable." 

The  Church  Family  at  Mount  Lebanon,  by  the  way,  have 
built  and  fitted  up  a  commodious  hospital,  for  the  permanently 
disabled  of  the  society  there.  It  is  empty,  but  ready;  and 
"  better  empty  than  full,"  said  an  aged  member  to  me. 

Among  the  members  they  have  people  who  were  formerly 
clergymen,  lawyers,  doctors,  farmers,  students,  mechanics,  sea- 
captains,  soldiers,  and  merchants;  preachers  are  in  a  much 
larger  proportion  than  any  of  the  other  professions  or  callings. 
They  get  members  from  all  the  religious  denominations  ex- 
cept the  Roman  Catholic;  they  have  even  Jews.  Baptists, 
Methodists,  Presbyterians,  and  Adventists  furnish  them  the 
greatest  proportion.  They  have  always  received  colored  peo- 
ple, and  have  some  in  several  of  the  societies. 

"  Every  commune,  to  prosper,  must  be  founded,  so  far  as 


*  In  nine  numbers  of  the  Shaker  (year  1873),  twenty-seven  deaths 
are  recorded.  Of  these,  Abigail  Munson  died  at  Mount  Lebanon,  aged 
101  years,  11  months,  and  12  days.  The  ages  of  the  remainder  were  97, 
93,  88,  87,  86,  82,  six  above  75,  four  above  70,  69,  65,  64,  55,  54,  49,  37,  31, 
and  two  whose  ages  were  not  given. 


The  Shakers. 


161 


its  iodratiy  goes,  *m  agriculture.  Only  the  simple  labors  and 
manners  of  a  farming  people  can  hold  a  community  together. 
Wherever  we  have  departed  from  this  rule  to  go  into  manu- 
jfactokig,  we  have  blundered."  For  his  part,  he  would  like  to 
make  a  law  for  the  whole  country,  that  every  man  should  own 
a  piece  of  land  and  work  on  it  Moreover,  a  community,  he 
said,  should,  as  far  as  possible,  make  or  produce  all  it  uses. 
*Wc  used  to  itaTe  more  looms  than  now,  but  cloth  is  sold  so 
cheaply  that  we  gradually  began  to  buy.  It  is  a  mistake ;  we 
foray  more  efoeaply  litLan  we  can  make,  but  our  home-made 
cloth  is  much  better  than  that  we  can  buy ;  and  we  have  now 
to  snake  three  pairs  of  trousers,  for  instance,  where  before  we 
oiae,  Unas  oor  little  looms  would  even  now  be  more 
say  nothing  of  the  independence  we  secure  in 
working  them." 

In  the  beginning,  iae  said,  the  societies  were  desirous  to  own 
land:    and   he  thought  _ 

immoderately  so.  They 
bought  to  tfoe  extent  <o>£ 
their  aneans ;  being  eco- 
iMMaieaL,  industrious,  and 
finest,  they  eared  money 
impidSy.  and  always  in- 
Tested  their  sorplos  m 
more  land.  Then  to  eul- 
tiTate  these  farms  they 
adopted  children  and 
yoong  people.  Twenty 
yeare  ago  the  Legisla- 
ture of  Xew  York  had 
before  it  a  MM.  to  limit 
tfee  quantity  of  land  the  Shakers  should  be  allowed  to  hold, 
and  the  number  of  apprentices  they  should  take.  It  was  in- 
troduced, he  said,  by  their  enemies,  but  they  at  once  agreed  to 


fiTTAFF.B   TAJTKEET.  MOU5TT  LEBASOS 


1 62     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

it,  and  thereupon  it  was  dropped ;  but  since  then  the  society 
had  come  generally  to  favor  a  law  limiting  the  quantity  of 
land  which  any  citizen  should  own  to  not  more  than  one  hun- 
dred acres. 


SHAKEK  OFFICE  AND  STORE  AT  MOUNT  LEBANON. 

He  thought  it  a  mistake  in  his  people  to  own  farms  outside 
of  their  family  limits,  as  now  they  often  do.  This  necessitates 
the  employment  of  persons  not  members,  and  this  he  thought 
impolitic.  "  If  every  out-farm  were  sold,  the  society  would  be 
better  off.  They  are  of  no  real  advantage  to  us,  and  I  believe 
of  no  pecuniary  advantage  either.  They  give  us  a  prosperous 
look,  because  we  improve  them  well,  and  they  do  return  usu- 
ally a  fair  percentage  upon  the  investment;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  this  success  depends  upon  the  assiduous  labor  of  some  of 
our  ablest  men,  whose  services  would  have  been  worth  more 
at  home.  "We  ought  to  get  on  without  the  use  of  outside  labor. 
Then  we  should  be  confined  to  such  enterprises  as  are  best  for 
us.  Moreover  we  ought  not  to  make  money.  "We  ought  to 
make  no  more  than  a  moderate  surplus  over  our  usual  living, 


The  Shakers.  163 


so  as  to  lay  by  something  for  hard  times.  In  fact,  we  do  not 
do  much  more  than  this." 

Nevertheless  nearly  all  the  Shaker  societies  have  the  reputa- 
tion of  being  wealthy.  , 

In  their  daily  lives  many  profess  to  have  attained  perfec- 
tion :  these  are  the  older  people.  I  judge  by  the  words  I  have 
heard  in  their  meetings  that  the  younger  members  have  oc- 
casion to  wish  for  improvement,  and  do  discover  faults  in 
themselves.  One  of  the  older  Shakers,  a  man  of  seventy-two 
years,  and  of  more  than  the  average  intelligence,  said  to  me,  in 
answer  to  a  direct  question,  that  he  had  for  years  lived  a  sin- 
less life.  "  I  say  to  any  who  know  me,  as  Jesus  said  to  the 
Pharisees, 6  which  of  you  convicteth  me  of  sin.' "  Where  faults 
are  committed,  it  is  held  to  be  the  duty  of  the  offender  to  con- 
fess to  the  elder,  or,  if  it  is  a  woman,  to  the  eldress ;  and  it  is 
for  these,  too,  to  administer  reproof.  "  For  instance,  suppose 
one  of  the  members  to  possess  a  hasty  temper,  not  yet  under 
proper  curb  ;  suppose  he  or  she  breaks  out  into  violent  words 
or  impatience,  in  a  shop  or  elsewhere ;  the  rest  ought  to  and  do 
tell  the  elder,  who  will  thereupon  administer  reproof.  But 
also  the  offending  member  ought  not  to  come  to  meeting  be- 
fore having  made  confession  of  his  sin  to  the  elder,  and  asked 
pardon  of  those  who  were  the  subjects  and  witnesses  of  the 
offense." 

As  to  books  and  literature  in  general,  they  are  not  a  reading 
people.  "Though  a  man  should  gain  all  the  natural  knowl- 
edge in  the  universe,  he  could  not  thereby  gain  either  the 
knowledge  or  power  of  salvation  from  sin,  nor  redemption 
from  a  sinful  nature."*  Elder  Frederick's  library  is  of  ex- 
tremely limited  range,  and  contains  but  a  few  books,  mostly 
concerning  social  problems  and  physiological  laws.  The  Swed- 
ish brother,  who  had  been  a  student,  said  in  answer  to  my 

*  "  Christ's  First  and  Second  Appearing." 


1 64     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

question,  that  it  did  not  take  him  long  to  wean  himself  from 
the  habit  of  books ;  and  that  now,  when  he  felt  a  temptation  in 
that  direction,  he  knew  he  must  examine  himself,  because  he 
felt  there  was  something  wrong  about  him,  dragging  him  down 
from  his  higher  spiritual  estate.  He  did  not  regret  his  books 
at  all.  An  intelligent,  thoughtful  old  Scotchman  said  on  the 
same  subject  that  he,  while  still  of  the -world,  had  had  a  hobby 
for  chemical  research,  to  which  he  would  probably  have  de- 
voted his  life ;  that  he  still  read  much  of  the  newest  investiga- 
tions, but  -that  he  had  found  it  better  to  turn  his  attention  to 
higher  matters ;  and  to  bring  the  faculties  which  led  him 
naturally  toward  chemical  studies  to  the  examination  of  social 
problems,  and  to  use  his  knowledge  for  the  benefit  of  the  so- 
ciety. 

The  same  old  Scotchman,  now  seventy-three  years  old,  and 
a  cheery  old  fellow,  who  had  known  the  elder  Owen,  and  has 
lived  as  a  Shaker  forty  years,  I  asked,  "  Well,  on  the  whole, 
.reviewing  your  life,  do  you  think  it  a  success  ?"  He  replied, 
clearly  with  the  utmost  sincerity :  "  Certainly ;  I  have  been 
living  out  the  highest  aspirations  my  mind  was  capable  of. 
The  best  I  knew  has  been  realized  for  and  around  me  here. 
With  my  ideas  of  society  I  should  have  been  unfit  for  anything 
in  the  world,  and  unhappy  because  every  thing  around  me 
would  have  worked  contrary  to  my  belief  in  the  right  and  the 
best.  Here  I  found  my  place  and  my  work,  and  have  been 
happy  and  content,  seeing  the  realization  of  the  highest  I  had 
dreamed  of." 

Considering  the  homeliness  of  the  buildings,  which  mostly 
have  the  appearance  of  mere  factories  or  human  hives,  I  ask- 
ed Elder  Frederick  whether,  if  they  were  to  build  anew,  they 
would  not  aim  at  some  architectural  effect,  some  beauty  of  de- 
sign. He  replied  with  great  positiveness, "  No,  the  beautiful,  as 
you  call  it,  is  absurd  and  abnormal.  It  has  no  business  with  us. 
The  divine  man  has  no  right  to  waste  money  upon  what  you 


The  Shakers. 


165 


would  call  beauty,  in  his  house  or  his  daily  life,  while  there  are 
people  living  in  misery."  In  building  anew,  he  would  take 
care  to  have  more  light, 
a  more  equal  distribu- 
tion of  heat,  and  a  more 
general  care*  for  pro- 
tection and  comfort, 
because  these  things 
tend  to  health  and  long 
life.  But  no  beauty. 
He  described  to  me 
amusingly  the  disgust 
he  had  experienced  in 
a  costly  New  York 
dwelling,  where  he 
saw  carpets  nailed 
down  on  the  floor,  "  of 
course  with  piles  of 
dust  beneath,  never 
swept  away,  and  of 
which  I  had  to 
breathe  ;"  and  with 
heavy  picture-frames  hung  against  the  walls,  also  the  recep- 
tacles of  dust.  "  You  people  in  the  world  are  not  clean  accord- 
ing to  our  Shaker  notions.  And  what  is  the  use  of  pictures  ?" 
he  added  scornfully. 

They  have  paid  much  attention  to  the  early  Jewish  policy 
in  Palestine,  and  the  laws  concerning  the  distribution  of  land, 
the  Sabbatical  year,  service,  and  the  collection  of  debts,  are 
praised  by  them  as  establishing  a  far  better  order  of  things  for 
the  world  in  general  than  that  which  obtains  in  the  civilized 
world  to-day. 

They  hold  strongly  to  the  equality  of  women  with  men,  and 
look  forward  to  the  day  when  women  shall,  in  the  outer  world 


A   SHAKER   ELDER. 


1 66     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

as  in  their  own  societies,  hold  office  as  well  as  men.  "  Here 
we  find  the  women  just  as  able  as  men  in  all  business  affairs, 
and  far  more  spiritual."  "  Suppose  a  woman  wanted,  in  your 
family,  to  be  a  blacksmith,  would  you  consent  ?"  I  asked ;  and 
he  replied,  "No,  because  this  would  bring  men  and  women 
into  relations  which  we  do  not  think  wise."  In  fact,  while 
they  call  men  and  women  equally  to  the  rulership,  they  very 
sensibly  hold  that  in  general  life  the  woman's  work  is  in  the 
house,  the  man's  out  of  doors ;  and  there  is  no  offer  to  confuse 
the  two. 

Moreover,  being  celibates,  they  use  proper  precautions  in  the 
intercourse  of  the  sexes.  Thus  Shaker  men  and  women  do 
not  shake  hands  with  each  other;  their  lives  have  almost  no 
privacy,  even  to  the  elders,  of  whom  two  always  room  together ; 
the  sexes  even  eat  apart ;  they  labor  apart ;  they  worship,  stand- 
ing and  marching,  apart ;  they  visit  each  other  only  at  stated 
intervals  and  according  to  a  prescribed  order ;  and  in  all  things 
the  sexes  maintain  a  certain  distance  and  reserve  toward  each 
other.  "  We  have  no  scandal,  no  tea-parties,  no  gossip." 

Moreover,  they  mortify  the  body  by  early  rising  and  by 
very  plain  living.  Few,  as  I  said  before,  eat  meat ;  and  I  was 
assured  that  a  complete  and  long -continued  experience  had 
proved  to  them  that  young  people  maintain  their  health  and 
strength  fully  without  meat.  They  wear  a  very  plain  and 
simple  dress,  without  ornament  of  any  kind ;  and  the  costume 
of  the  women  does  not  increase  their  attractiveness,  and  makes 
it  difficult  to  distinguish  between  youth  and  age.  They  keep 
no  pet  animals,  except  cats,  which  are  maintained  to  destroy 
rats  and  mice.  They  have,  of  course,  none  of  the  usual  rela- 
tions to  children — and  the  boys  and  girls  whom  they  take  in 
are  in  each  family  put  under  charge  of  a  special  "care-taker," 
and  live  in  separate  houses,  each  sex  by  itself. 

Smoking  tobacco  is  by  general  consent  strictly  prohibited. 
A  few  chew  tobacco,  but  this  is  thought  a  weakness,  to  be 


A  GROUP  OF  SHAKER  CHILDREN. 


The  Shakers.  167 


left  off  as  standing  in  the  way  of  a  perfect  life.  The  follow- 
ing notice  in  the  Shaker  shows  that  even  some  very  old  sin- 
ners in  this  respect  reform : 

OBITUARY. 

On  Tuesday,  Feb.  20th,  1873,  Died,  by  the  power  of  truth,  and  for  the 
cause  of  Human  Redemption,  at  the  Young  Believers'  Order,  Mt.  Lebanon, 
in  the  following  much-beloved  Brethren,  the 

TOBACCO-CHEWING  HABIT, 

aged  respectively, 

In  D.  S.  51  years'  duration. 

InC.M.  57 

In  A.  G.  15 

In  T.  S.  36 

In  OLIVER  PRENTISS  71 

In  L.  S.  45 

In  H.  C.  53 

In  C.  K.  12 

No  funeral  ceremonies,  no  mourners,  no  grave-yard ;  but  an  honorable 
RECORD  thereof  made  in  the  Court  above.  Ed. 

Reviewing  all  these  details,  it  did  not  surprise  me  when 
Elder  Frederick  remarked,  "  Every  body  is  not  called  to  the 
divine  life."  To  a  man  or  woman  not  thoroughly  and  ear- 
nestly in  love  with  an  ascetic  life  and  deeply  disgusted  with 
the  world,  Shakerism  would  be  unendurable  ;  and  I  believe  in- 
sincerity to  l>e  rare  among  them.  It  is  not  a  comfortable 
place  for  hypocrites  or  pretenders. 

The  housekeeping  of  a  Shaker  family  is  very  thoroughly 
and  effectively  done.  The  North  Family  at  Mount  Lebanon 
consists  of  sixty  persons;  six  sisters  suffice  to  do  the  cooking 
and  baking,  and  to  manage  the  dining-hall ;  six  other  sisters  in 
half  a  day  do  the  washing  of  the  whole  family.  The  deacon- 
esses give  out  the  supplies.  The  men  milk  in  bad  weather, 
the  women  when  it  is  warm.  The  Swedish  brother  told  me 
that  he  was  this  winter  taking  a  turn  at  milking — to  mortify 
the  flesh,  I  imagine,  for  he  had  never  done  this  in  his  own 
home ;  and  he  used  neither  milk  nor  butter.  Many  of  the 


1 68     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

brethren  have  not  tasted  meat  in  from  twenty-five  to  thirty-five 
years.  Tea  and  coffee  are  used,  but  very  moderately. 

There  is  no  servant  class. 

"  In  a  community,  it  is  necessary  that  some  one  person  shall 
always  know  where  every  body  is,"  and  it  is  the  elder's  office 
to  have  this  knowledge ;  thus  if  one  does  not  attend  a  meeting, 
he  tells  the  elder  the  reason  why. 

Obedience  to  superiors  is  an  important  part  of  the  life  of 
the  order. 

Living  as  they  do  in  large  families  compactly  stowed,  they 
have  become  very  careful  against  fires,  and  "  a  real  Shaker  al- 
ways, when  he  has  gone  out  of  a  room,  returns  and  takes  a 
look  around  to  see  that  all  is  right." 

The  floor  of  the  assembly  room  was  astonishingly  bright 
and  clean,  so  that  I  imagined  it  had  been  recently  laid.  It 
had,  in  fact,  been  used  twenty-nine  years ;  and  in  that  time  had 
been  but  twice  scrubbed  with  water.  But  it  was  swept  and 
polished  daily ;  and  the  brethren  wear,  to  the  meetings  shoes 
made  particularly  for  those  occasions,  which  are  without  nails 
or  pegs  in  the  soles,  and  of  soft  leather.  They  have  invented 
many  such  tricks  of  housekeeping,  and  I  could  see  that  they 
acted  just  as  a  parcel  of  old  bachelors  and  old  maids  would, 
any  where  else,  in  these  particulars — setting  much  store  by 
personal  comfort,  neatness,  and  order ;  and  no  doubt  thinking 
much  of  such  minor  morals.  For  instance,  on  the  opposite 
page  is  a  copy  of  verses  which  I  found  in  the  visitors'  room  in 
one  of  the  Shaker  families — a  silent  but  sufficient  hint  to  the 
careless  and  wasteful. 

Like  the  old  monasteries,  they  are  the  prey  of  beggars,  who 
always  receive  a  dole  of  food,  and  often  money  enough  to  pay 
for  a  night's  lodging  in  the  neighboring  village ;  for  they  do 
not  like  to  take  in  strangers. 

The  visiting  which  is  done  on  Sunday  evenings  is  perhaps 
as  curious  as  any  part  of  their  ceremonial.  Like  all  else  in 


The  Shakers. 


169 


TABLE   MONITOR. 


GATHER  UP  THE  FRAGMENTS  THAT  REMAIN,  THAT  NOTHING  BE  LOST.-CHEIST. 


Here  then  is  the  pattern 

Which  Jesus  has  set ; 
And  his  good  example 

We  can  not  forget : 
With  thanks  for  his  blessings 

His  word  we'll  obey; 
But  on  this  occasion 

We've  somewhat  to  say. 

We  wish  to  speak  plainly 

And  use  no  deceit ; 
We  like  to  see  fragments 

Left  wholesome  and  neat : 
To  customs  and  fashions 

We  make  no  pretense; 
Yet  think  we  can  tell 

What  belongs  to  good  sense. 

What  we  deem  good  order, 

We're  willing  to  state — 
Eat  hearty  and  decent, 

And  clear  out  our  plate — 
Be  thankful  to  Heaven 

For  what  we  receive, 
And  not  make  a  mixture 

Or  compound  to  leave. 

We  find  of  those  bounties 

Which  Heaven  does  give, 
That  some  live  to  eat, 

And  that  some  eat  to  live — 
That  some  think  of  nothing 

But  pleasing  the  taste, 
And  care  very  little 

How  much  thev  do  waste. 


Tho'  Heaven  has  bless'd  us 

With  plenty  of  food  : 
Bread,  butter,  and  honey, 

And  all  that  is  good ; 
We  loathe  to  see  mixtures 

Where  gentle  folks  dine, 
Which  scarcely  look  fit 

For  the  poultry  or  swine. 

We  often  find  left, 

On  the  same  china  dish, 
Meat,  apple-sauce,  pickle, 

Brown  bread  and  minc'd  fish ; 
Another's  replenish'd 

With  butter  and  cheese ; 
With  pie,  cake,  and  toast, 

Perhaps,  added  to  these. 

Now  if  any  virtue 

In  this  can  be  shown, ' 
By  peasant,  by  lawyer, 

Or  king  on  the  throne, 
We  freely  will  forfeit 

Whatever  we've  said, 
And  call  it  a  virtue 

To  waste  meat  and  bread. 

Let  none  be  offended 

At  what  we  here  say; 
We  candidly  ask  you, 

Is  that  the  best  way  ? 
If  not — lay  such  customs 

And  fashions  aside, 
And  take  this  Monitor 

Henceforth  for  your  guide. 


|[VISITORS' 


SR  VILLAS*.]! 


1 70     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

their  lives,  these  visits  are  prearranged  for  them — a  certain 
group  of  sisters  visiting  a  certain  group  of  brethren.  The  sis- 
ters, from  four  to  eight  in  number,  sit  in  a  row  on  one  side,  in 
straight-backed  chairs,  each  with  her  neat  hood  or  cap,  and 
each  with  a  clean  white  handkerchief  spread  stiffly  across  her 
lap.  The  brethren,  of  equal  number,  sit  opposite  them,  in 
another  row,  also  in  stiff-backed  chairs,  and  also  each  with  a 
white  handkerchief  smoothly  laid  over  his  knees.  Thus  ar- 
ranged, they  converse  upon  the  news  of  the  week,  events  in 
the  outer  world,  the  farm  operations,  and  the  weather ;  they 
sing,  and  in  general  have  a  pleasant  reunion,  not  without  gen- 
tle laughter  and  mild  amusement.  They  meet  at  an  appointed 
time,  and  at  another  set  hour  they  part;  and  no  doubt  they 
find  great  satisfaction  in  this — the  only  meeting  in  which  they 
fall  into  sets  which  do  not  include  the  whole  family. 

Since  these  chapters  were  written,  Hervey  Elkins's  pamphlet, 
"  Fifteen  Years  in  the  Senior  Order  of  the  Shakers,"  printed 
at  Hanover,  New  Hampshire,  in  1853,  has  come  into  my  hands. 
Elkins  gives  some  details  out  of  his  own  experience  of  Shaker 
life  which  I  believe  to  be  generally  correct,  and  which  I  quote 
here,  as  filling  up  some  parts  of  the  picture  I  have  tried  to  give 
of  the  Shaker  polity  and  life : 

"  The  spiritual  orders,  laws,  and  statutes,  never  to  be  revoked,  are  in 
substance  as  follows :  None  are  admitted  within  the  walls  of  Zion,  as 
they  denominate  their  religious  sphere,  but  by  a  confession  to  one  or  more 
incarnate  witnesses  of  every  debasing  and  immoral  act  perpetrated  by 
the  confessor  within  his  remembrance;  also  every  act  which,  though  the 
laws  of  men  may  sanction,  may  be  deemed  sinful  in  the  view  of  that  new 
and  sublimer  divinity  which  he  has  adopted.  The  time,  the  place,  the 
motive  which  produced  and  pervaded  the  act,  the  circumstances  which 
aggravated  the  case,  are  all  to  be  disclosed.  No  stone  is  to  be  left  un- 
turned— no  filth  is  suffered  to  remain.  The  temple  of  God,  or  the  soul, 
must  be  carefully  swept  and  garnished,  before  the  new  man  can  enter  it 
and  there  make  his  abode.  (Christ,  or  the  Divine  Intelligence  which 
emanated  from  God  the  Father,  transforms  the  soul  into  the  new  man 
spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures.) 


The  Shakers.  171 


"  Those  who  have  committed  deeds  cognizable  by  the  laws  of  the  land, 
shall  never  be  admitted,  until  those  laws  have  dealt  with  their  transgres- 
sions and  acquitted  them. 

"Those  who  have  in  any  way  morally  wronged  a  fellow -creature, 
shall  make  restitution  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  person  injured. 

"  Wives  who  have  unbelieving  husbands  must  not  be  admitted  with- 
out their  husbands'  consent,  or  until  they  are  lawfully  released  from  the 
marriage  contract,  and  vice  versa.  They  may  confess  their  sins,  but  can 
not  enter  the  sacred  compact. 

"  All  children  admitted  shall  be  bound  by  legal  indentures,  and  shall, 
if  refractory,  be  returned  to  their  parents. 

"  There  shall  exist  three  Orders,  or  degrees  of  progression,  viz. :  The  No- 
vitiate, the  Junior,  and  the  Senior. 

"  All  adults  may  enter  the  Novitiate  Order,  and  then  may  progress  to 
a  higher,  by  faithfulness  in  supporting  the  Gospel  requirements. 

"  When  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  the  Church  Covenant  is  presented  to  all 
the  young  members  to  peruse,  and  to  deliberate  and  decide  whether  or  not 
they  will  maintain  the  conditions  therein  expressed.  To  older  members 
it  is  presented  after  all  legal  embarrassments  upon  their  estates  are  settled, 
and  they  desire  to  be  admitted  to  full  fellowship  with  those  who  have 
consecrated  all.  And  whoever,  after  having  escaped  the  servility  of 
Egypt,  shall  again  desire  its  taskmasters  and  flesh-pots,  are  unfit  for  the 
kingdom  of  God ;  and  in  case  of  secession  or  apostasy  shall,  by  their  own 
deliberate  and  matured  act  (that  of  placing  their  signatures  and  seals 
upon  this  instrument  when  in  the  full  possession  of  all  their  mental 
powers),  be  debarred  from  legally  demanding  any  compensation  whatever 
for  the  property  or  services  which  they  had  dedicated  to  a  holy  pur- 
pose. 

"  This  instrument  is  legally  and  skillfully  formed,  and  none  are  per- 
mitted to  sign  it  until  they  have  counted  well  the  cost ;  or,  at  least,  pon- 
dered for  a  time  upon  its  requirements. 

"Members  also  stipulate  themselves  by  this  signature  to  yield  implicit 
obedience  to  the  ministry,  elders,  deacons,  and  trustees,  each  in  their 
respective  departments  of  authority  and  duty. 

"  The  Shaker  government,  in  many  points,  resembles  that  of  the  mili- 
tary. All  shall  look  for  counsel  and  guidance  to  those  immediately  be- 
fore them,  and  shall  receive  nothing  from,  nor  make  application  for  any 
thing  to  those  but  their  immediate  advisers.  For  instance :  No  elder  in 
either  of  the  subordinate  bishoprics  can  make  application  for  any  amend- 

N 


172     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

merit,  any  innovation,  any  introduction  of  a  new  system,  of  however 
trivial  a  nature,  to  the  ministry  of  the  first  bishopric ;  but  he  may  desire 
and  ask  of  Ms  own  ministry,  and,  if  his  proposal  meet  their  concurrence, 
they  will  seek  its  sanction  of  those  next  higher.  All  are  to  regard  their 
spiritual  leaders  as  mediators  between  God  and  their  own  souls;  and 
these  links  of  divine  communication,  successively  descending  from  Power 
and  Wisdom,  who  constitute  the  dual  God,  to  their  Son  and  Daughter, 
Jesus  and  Ann,  and  from  them  to  Ann's  successors  of  the  Zion  of  God  on 
earth,  down  to  the  prattling  infant  who  may  have  been  gathered  within 
this  ark  of  safety — this  concatenated  system  of  spiritual  delegation  is  the 
river  of  life,  whose  salutary  waters  flow  through  the  celestial  sphere  for 
the  cleansing  and  redemption  of  souls. 

"  Great  humility  and  simplicity  of  life  is  practiced  by  the  first  ministry 
— two  of  each  sex — upon  whom  devolves  the  charge  of  subordinate  bish- 
oprics, besides  that  of  their  own  immediate  care,  the  societies  of  Niske- 
yuna  and  Mount  Lebanon.  They  will  not  even  (and  this  is  good  policy) 
allow  themselves  those  expensive  conveniences  of  life  which  are  so  com- 
mon among  the  laity  of  their  sect.  But  extreme  neatness  is  the  most 
prominent  characteristic  of  both  them  and  their  subordinates.  They 
speak  much  of  the  model  enjoined  by  Jesus,  that  whosoever  would  be 
the  greatest  should  be  the  servant  of  all. 

"A  simple  song,  of  a  beautiful  tune,  inculcating  this  spirit,  is  often  sung 
in  their  assemblies.  The  words  are  these  : 

'Whoever  wants  to  be  the  highest 

Must  first  come  down  to  be  the  lowest; 
And  then  ascend  to  be  the  highest 
By  keeping  down  to  be  the  lowest.' 

"  It  is  common  for  the  leaders  to  crowd  down,  by  humiliation,  and 
withdraw  patronage  and  attention  from  those  whom  they  intend  to  ulti- 
mately promote  to  an  official  station.  That  such  may  learn  how  it  seems 
to  be  slighted  and  humiliated,  and  how  to  stand  upon  their  own  basis, 
work  spiritually  for  their  own  food  without  being  dandled  upon  the  soft 
lap  of  affection,  or  fed  with  the  milk  designed  for  babes.  That  also 
they  be  not  deceived  by  the  phantoms  of  self- wisdom ;  and  that  they 
martyr  not  in  themselves  the  meek  spirit  of  the  lowly  Jesus.  Thus, 
while  holding  one  in  contemplation  for  an  office  of  care  and  trust,  they 
first  prove  him — the  cause  unknown  to  himself— to  see  how  much  he  can 
bear,  without  exploding  by  impatience  or  faltering  under  trial. 

"  Virtually  for  this  purpose,  but  ostensibly  for  some  other,  have  I  known 


The  Shakers.  173 


many  promising  young  people  moved  to  a  back  order,  or  lower  grade  of 
fellowship.  By  such  trials  the  leaders  think  to  try  their  souls  in  the 
furnace  of  affliction,  withdraw  them  from  earthly  attachments,  and  imbue 
them  with  reliance  upon  God.  In  fact,  to  destroy  terrestrial  idols  of 
every  kind,  to  dispel  the  clouds  of  inordinate  affection  and  concentrative 
love,  which  fascinatingly  float  aroiind  the  mind  and  screen  from  its  view 
the  radiant  brightness  of  heaven  and  heavenly  things,  is  the  great  object 
of  Shakerism. 

"  Whoever  yields  enough  to  the  evil  tempter  to  gratify  in  the  least  the 
sensual  passions — either  in  deed,  word,  or  thought — shall  confess  honestly 
the  same  to  his  elders  ere  the  sun  of  another  day  shall  set  to  announce  a 
day  of  condemnation  and  wrath  against  the  guilty  soul.  These  vile  pas- 
sions are — fleshly  lusts  in  every  form,  idolatry,  selfishness,  envy,  wrath, 
malice,  evil-speaking,  and  their  kindred  evils. 

"  The  Sabbath  shall  be  kept  pure  and  holy  to  that  degree  that  no  books 
shall  be  read  on  that  day  which  originated  among  the  world's  people, 
save  those  scientific  books  which  treat  of  propriety  of  diction.  No  idle 
or  vain  stories  shall  be  rehearsed,  no  unnecessary  labor  shall  be  perform- 
ed— not  even  the  cooking  of  food,  the  ablution  of  the  body,  the  cutting 
of  the  hair,  beard,  or  nails,  the  blacking  and  polishing  of  shoes  or  boots. 
All  these  things  must  be  performed  on  Saturday,  or  postponed  till  the 
subsequent  week.  All  fruit,  eaten  upon  the  Sabbath,  must  be  carried  to 
the  dwelling-house  on  Saturday.  But  the  dormitories  may  be  arranged, 
the  cows  milked,  all  domestic  animals  fed,  and  food  and  drink  warmed 
on  Sunday.  No  one  is  allowed  to  go  to  his  workshop,  to  walk  in  the 
gardens,  the  orchards,  or  on  the  farms,  unless  immediate  duty  requires; 
and  those  who  of  necessity  go  to  their  workshops,  shall  not  tarry  over 
fifteen  minutes  but  by  the  direct  liberty  of  the  elders.  The  dwelling- 
house  is  the  place  for  all  to  spend  the  Sabbath ;  and  thither  all  concen- 
trate— elders,  deacons,  brethren,  and  sisters.  If  any  property  is  likely 
to  incur  loss — as  hay  and  grain  that  is  cut  and  remaining  in  the  field, 
and  is  liable  to  be  wet  before  Monday,  it  may  be  secured  upon  the  Sab- 
bath. 

"All  shall  rise  simultaneously  every  morning  at  the  signal  of  the  bell, 
and  those  of  each  room  shall  kneel  together  in  silent  prayer,  strip  from 
the  beds  the  coverlets  and  blankets,  lighten  the  feathers,  open  the  win- 
dows to  ventilate  the  rooms,  and  repair  to  their  places  of  vocation.  Fif- 
teen minutes  are  allowed  for  all  to  leave  their  sleeping  apartments.  In 
the  summer  the  signal  for  rising  is  heard  at  half-past  four,  in  the  winter 


1 74     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

at  half-past  five.  Breakfast  is  invariably  one  and  a  half  hours  after  rising 
— in  the  summer  at  six,  in  the  winter  at  seven  ;  dinner  always  at  twelve ; 
supper  at  six.  These  rules  are,  however,  slightly  modified  upon  the  Sab- 
bath. They  rise  and  breakfast  on  this  day  half  an  hour  later,  dine  light- 
ly at  twelve,  and  sup  at  four.  Every  order  maintains  the' same  regularity 
in  regard  to  their  meals. 

"  In  the  Senior  Order,  at  the  ringing  of  a  large  bell,  ten  minutes  before 
meal-time,  all  may  gather  into  the  saloons,  and  retire  the  ten  minutes  be- 
fore the  dining-hall  alarm  summons  them  to  the  table.  All  enter  four 
doors  and  gently  arrange  themselves  at  their  respective  places  at  the 
table,  then  all  simultaneously  kneel  in  silent  thanks  for  nearly  a  minute, 
then  rise  and  seat  themselves  almost  inaudibly  at  the  table.  No  talking, 
laughing,  whispering,  or  blinking  are  allowed  while  thus  partaking  of 
God's  blessings.  After  eating,  all  rise  together  at  the  signal  of  the  first 
elder,  kneel  as  before,  and  gently  retire  to  their  places  of  vocation,  with- 
out stopping  in  the  dining-hall,  loitering  in  the  corridors  and  vestibules, 
or  lounging  upon  the  balustrades,  doorways,  and  stairs. 

"  The  tables  are  long,  three  feet  in  width,  highly  polished,  without  cloth, 
and  furnished  with  white  ware  and  no  tumblers.  The  interdict  which 
excludes  glass-ware  from  the  table  must  be  attributed  to  conservatism 
rather  than  parsimony,  for  in  most  useful  improvements  the  Shakers 
strive  to  excel.  They  tremble  at  adopting  the  customs  of  the  world.  At 
the  tables,  each  four  have  all  the  varieties  of  food  served  for  themselves, 
which  precludes  the  necessity  of  continual  passing  and  reaching. 

"  At  half-past  seven  P.M.  in  the  summer,  and  at  eight  in  the  winter, 
the  large  bell  summons  all  of  every  order  to  their  respective  dwellings, 
there  to  retire,  each  individual  in  his  own  room,  half  an  hour  before 
evening  worship.  To  retire  is  for  the  inmates  of  every  room — generally 
from  four  to  eight  individuals — to  dispose  themselves  in  either  one  or 
two  ranks,  and  sit  erect,  with  their  hands  folded  upon  their  laps,  without 
leaning  back  or  falling  asleep ;  and  in  that  position  labor  for  a  true  sense 
of  their  privilege  in  the  Zion  of  God— of  the  fact  that  God  has  prescribed 
a  law  which  humbles  and  keeps  them  within  the  hollow  of  his  hand,  and 
has  favored  them  with  the  blessing  of  worshiping  him,  with  soul  and 
body,  unmolested,  and  according  to  the  dictation  of  an  enlightened  mind 
and  a  tender  and  good  conscience.  If  any  chance  to  fall  asleep  while 
thus  mentally  employed,  they  may  rise  and  bow  four  times,  or  gently 
shake,  and  then  resume  their  seats. 

"  The  man  who  is  now  the  archbishop  of  Shakerism  was,  when  a  youth, 


The  Shakers.  175 


very  apt  to  fall  into  a  drowsy  state  in  retiring  time ;  but  he  broke  up 
that  habit  by  standing  erect  the  half-hour  before  every  meeting  for  six 
months.  And  there  are  many  as  zealous  as  he  in  supporting  every  order. 
No  unnecessary  walking  in  the  corridors  or  passing  in  and  out  of  doors 
are  in  this  sacred  time  allowed.  When  the  half -hour  has  expired,  a 
small  hand-bell  summons  all  to  the  hall  of  worship.  None  are  allowed 
to  absent  themselves  without  the  elder's  liberty.  If  any  are  unwell  or 
tired,  it  is  but  a  little  matter  to  rap  at  the  elder's  door,  or  ask  a  com- 
panion to  do  it,  where  any  one  may  receive  liberty  to  retire  to  rest  if  it  is 
expedient.  All  pass  the  stairs  and  corridors,  and  enter  the  hall,  two 
abreast,  upon  tiptoe,  bowing  once  as  they  enter,  and  pass  directly  to  their 
place  in  the  forming  ranks. 

"  The  house,  of  course,  is  vacated  through  the  day,  except  by  sisters, 
who  take  turns  in  cooking,  making  beds,  and  sweeping.  When  brethren 
and  sisters  enter,  they  must  uncover  their  heads,  and  hang  their  hats  and 
bonnets  in  the  lower  corridors,  and  walk  softly,  and  open  and  shut  doors 
gently,  and  in  the  fear  of  God.  None  are  allowed  to  carry  money  into 
sacred  worship.  In  a  word,  the  sanctuary  and  the  whole  house  shall  be 
kept  sacred  and  holy  unto  the  Lord ;  and  all  shall  spend  the  time  al- 
lotted to  be  in  the  house  mostly  in  their  own  rooms.  Three  evenings 
in  the  week  are  set  apart  for  worship,  and  three  for  '  union  meetings.' 
Monday  evenings  all  may  retire  to  rest  at  the  usual  meeting  time,  an 
hour  earlier  than  usual.  For  the  union  meetings  the  brethren  remain  in 
their  rooms,  and  the  sisters,  six,  eight,  or  ten  in  number,  enter  and  sit  in 
a  rank  opposite  to  'that  of  the  brethren's,  and  converse  simply,  often  face- 
tiously, but  rarely  profoundly.  In  fact,  to  say  '  agreeable  things  about 
nothing,'  when  conversant  with  the  other  sex,  is  as  common  there  as  else- 
where. And  what  of  dignity  or  meaning  could  be  said  ?  where  talking 
of  sacred  subjects  is  not  allowed,  under  the  pretext  that  it  scatters  those 
blessings  which  should  be  carefully  treasured  up ;  and  bestowing  much 
information  concerning  the  secular  plans  of  economy  practiced  by  your 
own  to  the  other  sex  is  not  approved;  and  where  to  talk  of  literary 
matters  would  be  termed  bombastic  pedantry  and  small  display,  and 
would  serve  f  o  exhibit  accomplishments  which  might  be  enticingly  dan- 
gerous. Nevertheless,  an  hour  passes  away  very  agreeably  and  even  rapt- 
urously with  those  who  there  chance  to  meet  with  an  especial  favorite ; 
succeeded  soon,  however,  when  soft  words,  and  kind,  concentrated  looks 
become  obvious  to  the  jealous  eye  of  a  female  espionage,  by  the  agonies 
of  a  separation.  For  the  tidings  of  such  reciprocity,  whether  true  or  sur- 


176     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

mised,  is  sure  before  the  lapse  of  many  hours  to  reach  the  ears  of  the  eld- 
ers ;  in  which  case,  the  one  or  the  other  party  would  be  subsequently 
summoned  to  another  circle  of  colloquy  and  union. 

"  No  one  is  permitted  to  make  mention  of  any  thing  said  or  done  in 
any  of  these  sittings  to  those  who  attend  another,  for  party  spirit  and 
mischief  might  be  the  result.  Twenty  minutes  of  the  union  hour  may  be 
devoted  to  the  singing  of  sacred  songs,  if  desired. 

"  All  are  positively  forbidden  ever  to  say  aught  against  their  brother 
or  their  sister,  whatever  may  be  their  defects ;  but  such  defects  shall  be 
made  known  to,  the  elders,  and  to  none  else.  '  If  nothing  good  can  be 
said  of  one,  say  nothing,'  is  a  Shaker  maxim.  If  one  member  is  known 
by  another  to  violate  an  ordinance  of  the  Gospel,  the  witness  thereto  shall 
gently  remind  the  transgressor,  and  request  him  to  confess  the  deed  to 
the  elder.  If  he  refuses,  the  witness  shall  divulge  it ;  if  he  consents, 
then  is  the  witness  free,  as  having  performed  his  duty. 

"  Brethren  and  sisters  shall  not  visit  each  other's  rooms  unless  for  er- 
rands ;  and  in  such  cases  shall  tarry  no  more  than  fifteen  minutes.  A 
sister  shall  not  go  to  the  brethren's  work  places  unless  accompanied  by 
another.  Brethren's  and  sister's  workshops  shall  not  be  under  one  or  the 
same  roof;  they  shall  not  pass  each  other  upon  the  stairs ;  nor  *me  of 
each  converse  together  unless  a  third  person  be  present  of  more  than  ten 
years  of  age.  They  shall  in  no  case  give  presents  to  each  other,  nor  lend 
with  the  intention  of  never  again  receiving.  If  a  sister  desires  any  as- 
sistance, or  desires  any  article  made  by  the  brethren,  she  must  make  ap- 
plication to  the  female  deaconesses  or  stewards,  and  they  will  convey  her 
wishes  to  the  male  stewards,  who  will  provide  the  article  or  assistance 
requested.  The  converse  is  required  of  a  brother ;  although  it  is  more 
common  for  the  brother  to  express  his  requests  direct  to  the  female  stew- 
ard, thus  excluding  one  link  of  the  concatenation.  In  each  order  a 
brother  is  generally  appointed  to  aid  the  sisters  in  doing  the  heavy  work 
of  the  laundry,  dairy,  kitchen,  and  similar  places.  All  are  required  to 
spend  their  mornings  and  evenings,  and  their  leisure  time,  in  the  per- 
formance of  some  good  act. 

"  No  one  shall  leave  the  premises  of  the  family  in  which  he  lives  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  elders ;  and  he  shall  obtain  the  consent  by  stating 
the  purpose  or  business  which  calls  him  away.  This  interdiction  in- 
cludes the  act  of  going  from  one  family  to  another.  But  on  their  own 
grounds  "brethren  may  range  at  pleasure ;  and  the  families  are  so  large 
that  the  territory  included  in  the  domain  of  each  extends  in  some  direc- 
tions for  miles  around. 


The  Shakers.  177 


"  No  conversation  is  allowed  between  members  of  different  families, 
unless  it  be  necessary,  succinct,  and  discreet. 

"  Before  a  brother  enters  a  sister's  apartment,  or  a  sister  enters  a  broth- 
er's, they  shall  rap  and  enter  by  permission.  "When  they  enter  the  apart- 
ment of  their  own  sex,  they  may  open  the  door  and  ask, '  May  I  come  in?' 

"  The  name  of  a  person  shall  never  be  used  to  designate  a  dumb  beast. 
No  one  is  allowed  to  play  with  or  handle  unnecessarily  any  beast  what- 
ever. Brethren  and  sisters  may  not  unnecessarily  touch  each  other.  If 
a  brother  shakes  hands  with  an  unbelieving  woman,  or  a  sister  with  an 
unbelieving  man,  they  shall  make  known  the  same  to  the  elders  before 
they  attend  worship.  Such  salutes  are  admissible,  for  the  sake  of  civility 
or  custom,  if  the  world  party  first  present  the  hand — never  without.  All 
visiting  of  the  world's  people,  even  their  own  relations,  is  forbidden,  unless 
there  exist  a  prospect  of  making  converts,  or  of  gathering  some  one  into 
the  fold.  All  visiting  of  other  societies  of  their  own  sect  is  under  the  im- 
mediate superintendence  of  the  ministry,  who  prescribe  the  number,  se- 
lect the  persons,  appoint  the  time,  define  the  length  of  their  stay,  and  the 
routes  by  which  they  may  go  and  come. 

"  The  deacons  are  empowered  to  change  the  employment  of  an  indi- 
vidual for  an  hour,  a  day,  or  a  week,  to  perform  a  necessary  piece  of  la- 
bor. But  a  permanent  removal  to  another  vocation  can  be  required  only 
by  the  elders. 

"  No  trading  is  to  be  done  by  any  save  the  trustees,  and  those  whom 
the  trustees  may  license.  No  new  literary  work  or  new-fangled  article 
can  be  admitted,  unless  it  be  first  sanctioned  by  the  ministry  and  elders. 
Trustees  may  purchase  any  thing  they  believe  may  be  admissible,  and 
present  the  same  for  the  inspection  of  the  leaders.  If  they  disapprove  it, 
it  must  be  sold.  The  property  is  all  legally  held  by  trustees,  who  may 
at  any  time  be  removed  by  the  ministry.  The  trustees  are  to  supervise 
all  financial  transactions  with  the  world  and  other  families  and  societies 
of  their  own  denomination,  and  do  all  by  knowledge  and  union  of  the 
ministry  and  elders.  There  must  be  two  trustees  in  every  order,  and 
they  shall  make  their  financial  returns  known  to  each  other  every  journey 
they  perform.  An  exact  book  account  of  every  cent  of  disbursement  and 
income  shall  be  presented  to  the  ministry  at  the  close  of  every  year.  The 
deacons  are  also  to  keep  an  exact  account  of  every  thing  manufactured 
or  produced  for  sale  in  the  family,  and  these  two  registers  are  compared 
by  the  ministry. 

"  Not  a  single  action  of  life,  whether  spiritual  or  temporal,  from  the 


178     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

initiative  of  confession,  or  cleansing  the  habitation  of  Christ,  to  that  of 
dressing  the  right  side  first,  stepping  first  with  the  right  foot  as  you  as- 
cend a  flight  of  stairs,  folding  the  hands  with  the  right-hand  thumb  and 
fingers  above  those  of  the  left,  kneeling  and  rising  again  with  the  right 
leg  first,  and  harnessing  first  the  right-hand  beast,  but  that  has  a  rule  for 
its  perfect  and  strict  performance. 

"  The  children,  or  all  under  the  age  of  sixteen,  unless  very  precocious, 
live,  eat,  work,  play,  sleep,  and  worship,  accompanied  only  by  their  care- 
takers. Once  upon  the  Sabbath  do  they  worship  with  the  adults.  Their 
meetings  are  not  so  long,  neither  do  they  retire  but  fifteen  minutes  be- 
fore them.  They  never  attend  union  meetings  until  they  emerge  into 
the  adult's  degree.  Stubborn  children  are  sometimes  corrected  with  a 
rod ;  but  any  child  or  beast  that  requires  an  extreme  severity  of  coercion 
to  induce  them  to  conform,  the  society  are  not  allowed  to  keep..  The 
contumacious  child  must  be  returned  to  his  parents  or  guardian,  and  the 
perverse  beast  must  be  sold. 

"  Prayer,  supplication,  persuasion,  and  keen  admonition  constitute  the 
only  means  used  to  incline  the  disposition  and  bend  the  will  of  those 
arrived  to  years  of  understanding  and  reason. 

********* 

"  The  boys'  shop,  so  called,  is  a  building  two  stories  in  height.  In  the 
upper  loft  is  a  large  room  where  the  care-takers  reside,  and  where  the 
boys  who  wish  to  read,  write,  or  reflect  may  retire  from  the  jabbering 
and  confusion  below.  Whenever  they  leave  their  house  or  shop,  they  are 
required  to  go  two  abreast  and  keep  step  with  each  other.  No  loud 
talking  was  allowable  in  the  court-yards  at  any  time.  No  talking  or 
whispering  when  passing  through  the  tasteful  courts  to  their  work,  their 
school,  their  meetings,  or  their  meals ;  a  still,  soft  walk  on  tiptoe,  and  an 
indistinct  closing  of  doors  in  the  house ;  a  gentle,  yet  a  more  brisk  move- 
ment in  the  shops ;  a  free  and  jovial  conversation  when  by  themselves  in 
the  fields ;  but  not  a  word,  unless  when  spoken  to,  when  .other  brethren 
than  their  care-takers  were  present — such  were  the  orders  we  saw  rigor- 
ously enforced,  and  the  lenities  we  freely  granted.  We  allowed  them  to 
indulge  in  the  innocent  sports  practiced  elsewhere.  But  wrestling  and 
scuffling  were  rarely  permitted.  No  sports  were  allowed  in  the  court- 
yards, unless  all  loud  talk  was  suppressed.  We  a  few  times  permitted 
them  to  roll  trucks  there,  but  allowed  no  verbal  communication  only  by 
whispering. 

"  All  were  taught  to  confess  all  violations  of  their  instructions,  and  a 


The  Shakers.  179 


portion  of  every  Saturday  was  set  apart  for  that  purpose.  They  enter 
one  at  a  time,  and  kneel  before  the  care-taker ;  and,  after  confessing  their 
faults,  the  care-taker  makes  some  necessary  inquiries  in  relation  to  other 
boys,  gives  them  generally  some  good  advice,  and  they  depart.  After 
eighteen  years  of  age  they  are  not  required  to  kneel  during  the  act  of 
confession.  To  watch  over  a  company  of  boys  like  these  is,  with  a  little 
tact,  an  easy  task.  The  vigils  must  be  incessant;  but  there  are  in  so 
large  a  number  those  upon  whom  the  care-taker  may  rely  ;  and  if  ill  con- 
duct or  bad  habits  are  creeping  in,  it  may  soon  be  detected  by  a  shrewd 
observer." 

The  contracting  of  a  special  liking  between  individuals  of 
opposite  sexes  is  in  some  of  the  societies  called  "  sparking." 


DETAILS  OF  THE  SHAKER  SOCIETIES. 

To  describe  particularly  each  of  the  eighteen  Shaker  societies 
would  involve  a  great  deal  of  unnecessary  repetition.  In  their 
buildings,  their  customs,  their  worship,  their  religious  faith, 
their  extreme  cleanliness,  their  costume,  and  in  many  other 
particulars,  they  are  all  nearly  alike ;  and  the  Shaker  of  Ken- 
tucky does  not  to  the  cursory  view  differ  from  his  brother  of 
Maine.  But  I  have  thought  it  necessary,  to  a  complete  view  of 
the  order,  to  present  some  particulars  of  each  society,  as  to  its 
location,  numbers,  the  quantity  of  land  it  owns,  its  industries, 
and  present  and  past  prosperity,  as  also  peculiarities  of  thought 
or  custom ;  and  these  details  will  be  found  below. 

There  are  two  Shaker  societies  in  Maine — one  at  Alfred, 
the  other  at  Xew  Gloucester. 

Alfred. 

The  society  is  near  Alfred,  in  York  County,  about  thirty  miles 
southwesterly  from  Portland.  Its  estate  of  eleven  hundred 
acres  lies  in  a  pretty  situation,  between  hills,  and  includes  a 


1 80     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 


large  pond  and  an  important  water-power.  The  land  is  not 
very  fertile  or  easily  cultivated.  They  sold  off  last  year  an 
outlying  tract  of  timber-land  for  $28,000,  and  were  glad  to  be 
rid  of  it. 

The  society  consists  now  of  two  families,  having  between 
sixty-five  and  seventy  members,  of  whom  two  fifths  are  men 
and  the  remainder  women.  They  are  all  Americans  but  two, 
of  whom  one  is  Irish  and  one  Welsh.  .  . 

The  society  was  "gathered"  in  1794;  there  were  then  three 
families ;  and  in  1823  it  had  two  hundred  members.  Twelve 
years  ago  one  of  the  families,  being  small,  was  drawn  in  to  the 
others,  and  the  buildings  it  occupied  have  since  been  let  out. 
The  decrease  began  to  be  rapid  about  thirty  years  ago,  when 
the  founders,  who  had  become  very  aged,  died  off,  and  new 
members  did  not  come  in  in  sufficient  numbers  to  take  their 
places.  Two  thirds  of  the  present  members  were  brought  into 
the  society  as  children,  many  being  brought  by  their  parents ; 
others,  orphans,  adopted.  Twenty  per  cent,  of  the  present 
membership  are  over  fifty  years  of  age. 

The  two  families  now  raise  a  few  garden  seeds,  make  brooms, 
hair  sieves,  dry  measures,  keep  a  tan-yard,  and  make  besides 
most  of  their  home  supplies.  They  also  farm  their  own  land. 
They  have  leased  to  outside  people  a  saw-mill  and  grist-mill 
which  they  own.  The  young  women  make  small  baskets, 
fans,  and  other  fancy  articles,  which  are  sold  during  the  sum- 
mer at  neighboring  sea-side  watering-places.  They  hire  a  few 
outside  laborers. 

About  a  quarter  of  the  people  eat  no  meat.  They  have  im- 
proved their  sanitary  regulations  in  the  last  twenty  years,  and 
have  almost  extirpated  fevers.  Formerly  cancer  was  a  fre- 
quent disease  among  them,  but  since  they  ceased  to  eat  pork 
this  has  disappeared. 

They  take  nine  or  ten  newspapers,  and  encourage  reading ; 
have  a  small  library,  and  a  good  school,  in  which  thirteen 


The  Shakers.  181 


children  are  taught.  The  people  have  been  long-lived ;  only 
a  few  weeks  before  I  visited  Alfred,  died  at  the  Church  Fam- 
ily Lucy  Langdon  Nowell,  aged  ninety-eight.  She  was  born 
on  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  and  had  lived  almost  all  her  life  in 
the  society,  her  father  having  been  one  of  its  founders,  and  the 
owner  of  some  of  the  land  on  which  the  society  now  live. 
Had  she  lived  long  enough,  she  was  to  have  been  taken  to  the 
proposed  Centennial  Exhibition  at  Philadelphia. 

In  the  last  ten  years  this  society  has  maintained  its  numbers, 
but  has  not  gained.  They  do  not  receive  many  applications 
for  membership ;  and  of  those  who  apply,  not  more  than  one 
in  ten  "  makes  a  good  Shaker." 

The  Alfred  Society  desired  a  year  or  two  ago  to  remove  to 
a  milder  climate ;  they  offered  their  entire  property  for  $100,- 
000,  but  found  no  purchaser  at  the  price,  and  determined  to 
remain.  Their  buildings  are  in  excellent  order ;  and  they  are 
prosperous,  having,  besides  the  income  from  their  different  in- 
dustries, a  fund  at  interest.  They  have  never  had  any  defal- 
cation or  loss  from  unfaithful  agents  or  trustees,  and  they 
have  no  debt. 

I  was  told  that  the  first  circular  saw  ever  made  in  the  United 
States  was  invented  by  a  Shaker  at  Alfred. 

New  Gloucester. 

The  New  Gloucester  Society  lies  in  Cumberland  County, 
about  twenty-five  miles  northwest  of  Portland.  It  consists  of 
two  families,  having  together  about  seventy  members,  of  whom 
one  third  are  men.  In  1823  it  had  three  families,  the  third 
being  gathered  in  1820,  and  broken  up  in  1831.  The  society 
had  in  1823  one  hundred  and  fifty  members. 

It  was  "  gathered  "  in  1794 ;  its  members  are  now  all  Ameri- 
cans except  two,  who  are  Scotch.  Among  them  are  persons 
who  were  farmers,  merchants,  printers,  wool- weavers,  and  some 
mechanics. 


1 82     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

The  Church  Family  lives  in  a  valley,  the  Gathering  Family 
on  a  high  ridge,  about  a  mile  off,  and  overlooking  an  extensive 
tract  of  country.  The  society  has  two  thousand  acres  of  land, 
and  owns  a  saw-mill,  grist-mill,  and  a  very  complete  machine 
shop.  The  people  raise  garden  seeds,  make  brooms,  dry  meas- 
ures, wire  sieves,  and  the  old-fashioned  spinning-wheel,  which, 
it  seems,  is  still  used  in  Maine  and  New  Hampshire  by  coun- 
try-women to  make  stocking  yarn.  But  its  most  profitable  in- 
dustry is  the  manufacture  of  oak  staves  for  molasses  hogsheads, 
which  are  exported  to  the  West  Indies.  One  of  the  elders  of 
this  society,  Hewitt  Chandler,  a  man  of  uncommon  mechanical 
ingenuity,  and  the  inventor  of  a  mowing-machine  which  was 
made  here  for  some  years,  has  contrived  a  way  of  bending 
staves  without  setting  them  up  in  the  cask,  which  saves  much 
time  and  labor,  and  makes  this  part  of  their  business  addition- 
ally profitable.  They  made  last  year  also  a  thousand  dollars' 
worth  of  pickles ;  and  the  women  make  fancy  articles  in  their 
spare  time. 

They  employ  from  fifteen  to  twenty  laborers  in  their  mills  and 
other  works,  most  of  whom  are  boarded  and  lodged  on  the  place. 

The  meeting-house  at  this  place  was  built  in  1794,  and  the 
dwelling  of  the  Church  Family  in  the  following  year.  Both 
are  of  wood,  are  still  in  good  order,  and  have  never  been  re- 
shingled. 

The  second  family  at  this  place  was  "gathered  "  in  1808,  at 
Gorham,  in  Maine,  and  removed  to  its  present  location  in  1819. 
It  had  then  twenty  brethren  and  thirty-two  sisters;  and  has 
now  only  twenty  members  in  all. 

Very  few  of  the  people  here  eat  meat.  Some  drink  tea,  but 
coffee  is  not  used.  They  have  flower  gardens,  and  would  have 
an  organ  or  melodeon  if  they  could  afford  it.  The  young  peo- 
ple promise  well ;  and  they  have  lately  received  several  young 
men  as  members,  sons  of  neighboring  farmers,  who  had  worked 
for  them  as  hired  people  for  a  number  of  years. 


The  Shakers.  183 


This  society  is  less  prosperous  than  most  of  the  others.  It 
has  met  with  several  severe  losses  by  unfaithful  and  impru- 
dent agents  and  trustees,  who  in  one  case  ran  up  large  debts 
for  several  years,  contrary  to  the  wise  rule  of  the  Shakers  to 
"  owe  no  man  any  thing,"  and  in  another  case  brought  loss  by 
defalcation.  The  hill  family  have  built  a  large  stone  house, 
but  owing  to  losses  have  not  been  able  to  complete  it.  The 
buildings  at  iSTew  Gloucester  show  signs  of  neglect ;  but  the 
people  are  very  industrious,  and  have  in  the  last  three  years  paid 
off  a  large  sum  which  they  owed  through  the  default  of  their 
agents;  and  they  will  work  their  way  out  in  the  next  two 
years.  To  prevent  their  being  entirely  crippled,  the  other  so- 
cieties helped  them  with  a  subscription. 

At  2s  ew  Gloucester,  also,  the  people  are  long-lived,  some  hav- 
ing died  at  the  age  of  eighty-six ;  and  very  many  living  beyond 
seventy. 

The  societies  at  Alfred  and  New  Gloucester  were  founded 
after  a  "revival"  among  the  Free-will  Baptists;  and  of  the 
present  members  who  came  in  later,  there  were  Universalists, 
Baptists,  Methodists,  and  Adventists  or  Millerites. 

There  are  two  societies  in  New  Hampshire,  both  prosperous : 
one  at  Canterbury,  the  other  at  Enfield. 

Canterbury. 

The  society  at  Canterbury  lies  on  high  ground,  about  twelve 
miles  north  by  east  from  Concord.  It  consists  of  three  fam- 
ilies, of  which,  however,  two  only  are  independent ;  the  third, 
which  has  but  fifteen  members,  receiving  its  supplies  from  the 
Church  Family,  which  contains  one  hundred  members.  The 
three  families  have  in  all  one  hundred  and  forty-five  mem- 
bers. In  1823  they  had  over  two  hundred,  and  forty  years  ago 
they  had  about  three  hundred. 

Forty  of  the  whole  number  are  under  twenty-one ;  and  one 


1 84     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

third  are  males,  two  thirds  females.  The  majority  are  young 
and  middle-aged  people ;  the  oldest  member  is  now  eighty- 
three,  and  half  a  dozen  are  near  seventy.  The  people  have 
been  generally  long-lived,  and  one  member  lived  to  over  one 
hundred  years  of  age. 

The  greater  part  grew  up  in  the  society ;  but  they  have  five 
young  Scotch  people,  brought  over  by  their  parents.  Of  those 
who  have  joined  in  later  years,  the  most  were  Adventists ;  oth- 
ers Free-will  Baptists  and  Methodists.  They  have  not  gained 
in  numbers  in  ten  years,  and  few  applicants  nowadays  re- 
main with  them. 

This  society  is  prosperous.  It  owns  three  thousand  acres  of 
rather  poor  farming  land,  some  of  which  is  in  wood  and  tim- 
ber. It  has  also  a  farm  in  Western  New  York,  where  it  main- 
tains eight  hundred  sheep.  Its  industries  are  varied:  they 
make  large  washing-machines  and  mangles  for  hotels  and  pub- 
lic institutions,  weave  woolen  cloths  and  flannels,  make  sarsapa- 
rilla  sirup,  checkerberry  oil,  and  knit  woolen  socks.  They 
also  make  brooms,  and  sell  hay ;  have  a  saw-mill ;  make  much 
of  what  they  use ;  and  they  keep  excellent  stock,  having  one 
enormous  and  admirably  arranged  barn.  The  sisters  also 
make  fancy  articles,  for  which  they  have  a  good  market  from 
the  summer  visitors  to  the  mountains,  with  whom  the  Canter- 
bury Shakers  are  justly  favorites. 

Their  buildings  are  very  complete  and  in  excellent  order. 
They  have  a  steam  laundry,  with  mangle,  and  an  admirably 
arranged  ironing-rojom ;  a  fine  and  thoroughly  fitted  school- 
house,  with  a  melodeon,  and  a  special  music-room ;  an  infirm- 
ary for  the  feeble  and  sick,  in  which  there  is  a  fearful  quanti- 
ty of  drugs ;  and  they  take  twelve  or  fifteen  newspapers,  and 
have  a  library  of  four  hundred  volumes,  including  history,  voy- 
ages, travels,  scientific  works,  and  stories  for  children,  but  no 
novels. 

The  Canterbury  Society  was  "  gathered  "  in  1792 ;  the  lead- 


The  Shakers.  185 


ing  men  owned  the  farm  on  which  the  buildings  now  stand, 
and  gave  the  land  to  the  community.  The  old  gambrel-roofed 
meeting-house  was  built  in  1792,  and  still  stands  in  good  order. 
The  founders  and  early  members  were  Free-will  Baptists,  who 
became  Shakers  after  a  great a  revival."  They  had  some  prop- 
erty originally ;  and  soon  began  to  manufacture  spinning- 
wheels,  whips,  sieves,  mortars,  brooms,  scythe-snaths,  and  dry 
measures ;  they  established  also  a  tannery.  As  times  changed, 
they  dropped  some  of  these  industries  and  took  up  others.  One 
of  their  members  invented  the  washing-machine  which  they 
now  make,  and  they  hold  the  patent-right  for  it. 

They  employ  six  mechanics,  non-members,  and  occasionally 
others.  The  members  mostly  eat  meat,  drink  tea  but  not  cof- 
fee, and  a  few  of  the  aged  members  are  indulged  in  the  use 
of  chewing-tobacco.  They  take  fewer  children  than  formerly, 
and  prefer  to  take  young  men  and  women  from  eighteen  to 
twenty-four.  They  take  great  pains  to  amuse  as  well  as  in- 
struct the  children ;  for  the  girls,  gymnastic  exercises  are  pro- 
vided as  well  as  a  flower  garden ;  the  boys  play  at  ball  and 
marbles,  go  fishing,  and  have  a  small  farm  of  their  own,  where 
each  has  his  own  garden  plot.  Once  a  week  there  is  a  general 
"  exercise  "  meeting  of  the  children,  and  they  are,  of  course,  in- 
cluded in  the  usual  meetings  for  worship,  reading,  and  conver- 
sation. 

The  "shops"  or  work-rooms  are  all  excellently  fitted;  in 
the  girls'  sewing-room  I  found  a  piano,  and  a  young  sister  tak- 
ing her  music-lesson. 

The  children  are  trained  to  confess  their  sins  to  the  elders, 
in  the  Shaker  fashion,  and  this  is  thought  to  be  a  most  impor- 
tant part  of  their  discipline. 

In  the  dwelling-house  and  near  the  kitchen  I  noticed  a  great 
number  of  buckets,  hung  up  to  the  beams,  one  for  each  mem- 
ber, and  these  are  used  to  carry  hot  water  to  the  rooms  for 
bathing.  The  dwellings  are  not  heated  with  steam.  The 


1 86     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

dining-room  was  ornamented  with  evergreens  and  flowers  in 
pots. 

They  have  no  physician,  but  in  the  infirmary  the  sisters  in 
charge  have  sufficient  skill  for  ordinary  cases  of  disease. 

The  people  are  not  great  readers.  The  Bible,  however,  is 
much  read.  They  are  fond  of  music. 

In  summer  they  entertain  visitors  at  a  set  price,  and  have 
rooms  fitted  for  this  purpose.  In  the  visitors'  dining-room  I 
saw  this  printed  notice : 

"  At  the  table  we  wish  all  to  be  as  free  as  at  home,  but  we 
dislike  the  wasteful  habit  of  leaving  food  on  the  plate.  No 
vice  is  with  us  the  less  ridiculous  for  being  fashionable. 

"  Married  persons  tarrying  with  us  overnight  are  respect- 
fully notified  that  each  sex  occupy  separate  sleeping  apartments 
while  they  remain." 

They  had  at  Canterbury  formerly  a  printing-press,  and 
printed  a  now  scarce  edition  of  hymns,  and  several  books. 
This  press  has  been  sold. 

The  trustees  here  give  once  a  year  an  inventory  and  state- 
ment of  accounts  to  the  elders  of  the  Church  Family.  In  the 
years  1848-9  they  suffered  severe  losses  from  the  defalcation 
of  an  agent  or  trustee,  but  they  have  long  ago  recovered  this 
loss,  and  now  owe  no  debts. 

Agriculture  they  believe  to  be  the  true  base  of  community 
life,  and  if  their  land  were  fertile  they  would  be  glad  to  leave 
off  manufacturing  entirely.  But  on  such  land  as  they  have 
they  can  not  make  a  living. 

The  leading  elder  of  the  society  remarked  to  me  that,  though 
in  numbers  they  were  less  than  formerly,  the  influence  of  the 
Canterbury  Society  upon  the  outside  world  was  never  so  great 
as  now:  their  Sunday  meetings  in  summer  are  crowded  by 
visitors,  and  they  believe  that  often  their  doctrines  sink  deep 
into  the  hearts  of  these  chance  hearers. 


The  Shakers.  187 


Enfield,  N.  H. 

The  Society  at  Enfield  lies  in  Graf  ton  County,  about  twelve 
miles  southeast  from  Dartmouth  College,  and  two  miles  from 
Enfield  Station,  on  the  Northern  New  Hampshire  Railroad.  It 
is  composed  of  three  families,  having  altogether  at  this  time 
one  hundred  and  forty  members,  of  whom  thirty-seven  are 
males  and  one  hundred  and  three  females.  This  preponder- 
ance arises  chiefly,  I  was  told,  from  the  large  number  of  young 
sisters.  There  are  thirty-five  youth  under  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  of  whom  eight  are  boys  and  twenty-seven  girls.  In 
1823  the  Enfield  Society  had  over  two  hundred  members; 
thirty  years  ago  it  had  three  hundred  and  thirty  members. 
They  do  not  now  receive  many  applications  for  membership, 
and  of  those  who  apply  but  few  remain. 

This  society  was  "  gathered  "  in  1793,  and  consisted  then  of 
but  one  family  or  community.  It  arose  out  of  a  general  re- 
vival of  religion  in  this  region.  A  second  family  was  formed 
in  1800,  and  the  third,  the  "  North  Family,"  in  1812.  They 
lost  some  members  during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  young 
men  who  became  soldiers,  and  some  others  who  were  drawn 
away  by  the  general  feeling  of  unrest  which  pervaded  the 
country.  They  like  to  take  children,  but  are  more  careful 
than  formerly  to  ascertain  the  characters  of  their  parents.  "We 
want  a  good  kind;  but  we  can't  do  without  some  children 
around  us,"  I  was  told. 

The  society  has  about  three  thousand  acres  of  land,  part  of 
it  being  an  outlying  farm,  ten  or  a  dozen  miles  away.  The 
buildings  are  remarkably  substantial.  The  dwelling  of  the 
Church  Family  is  of  a  beautiful  granite,  one  hundred  feet  by 
sixty,  and  of  four  full  and  two  attic  stories ;  some  of  the  shops 
are  also  of  granite,  others  of  brick,  and  in  the  other  families 
stone  and  brick  have  also  been  used.  There  is  an  excellently 
arranged  infirmary,  a  roomy  and  well-furnished  school-room, 

O 


1 88     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

a  large  music-room  in  a  separate  building ;  and  at  the  Church 
Family  they  have  a  laundry  worked  by  water-power,  and  use 
a  centrifugal  dryer,  instead  of  the  common  wringer. 

Nearly  the  whole  of  their  present  real  estate  was  brought 
into  the  society  as  a  free  gift  by  the  founders,  who  were  farm- 
ers living  there ;  and  many  of  the  early  members  brought  in 
considerable  means,  for  those  days.  When  they  gathered  into 
a  community  they  began  to  add  manufacturing  to  their  farm- 
ing work,  and  the  Enfield  Shakers  were  among  the  first  to  put 
up  garden  seeds.  Besides  this,  they  made  spinning-wheels, 
rakes,  pitchforks,  scythe-snaths,  and  had  many  looms.  Until 
within  thirty  years  they  wove  linen  and  cotton  as  well  as  wool- 
en goods,  and  in  considerable  quantities. 

At  present  they  put  up  garden  seeds,  make  buckets  and  tubs, 
butter-tubs,  brooms,,  dry  measures,  gather  and  dry  roots  and 
herbs  for  medicinal  use,  make  maple-sugar  in  the  spring  and 
apple-sauce  in  the  winter ;  sew  shirts  for  Boston,  and  keep  sev- 
eral knitting-machines  busy,  making  flannel  shirts  and  drawers 
and  socks.  They  also  make  several  patent  medicines,  among 
which  the  "  Shaker  anodyne "  is  especially  prized  by  them ; 
and  extracts,  such  as  fluid  valerian ;  and  in  one  of  the  families 
the  women  prepare  bread,  pies,  and  other  provisions,  which  they 
sell  in  a  neighboring  manufacturing  village.  Finally,  they 
own  a  woolen-mill  and  a  grist-mill ;  but  these  they  have  leased. 
One  of  their  members  has  invented  and  patented  for  the  so- 
ciety a  folding  pocket-stereoscope. 

Besides  all  these  industries,  uncommonly  varied  and  numer- 
ous even  for  the  Shakers,  they  have  carpenter,  blacksmith, 
tailor,  and  shoemaker  shops,  and  produce  or  make  up  a  great 
part  of  what  they  consume.  Moreover,  as  in  most  of  the 
Shaker  societies,  the  women  make  up  fancy  articles  for  sale. 

The  members  of  the  society  are  almost  all  Americans,  and 
the  greater  part  of  them  came  in  as  little  children.  Of  foreign- 
ers, there  are  one  English  man,  two  of  Irish  birth,  one  of  Welsh, 


The  Shakers.  189 


and  two  French  Canadians.  As  elsewhere,  Baptists,  Methodists, 
and  Millerites  or  Second  Adventists  contributed  the  larger 
part  of  the  membership. 

They  hire  from  twenty  to  thirty-five  laborers,  according  to 
the  season  of  the  year. 

Most  of  the  members  are  under  forty,  and  almost  all  are 
farmers.  I  heard  of  one  lawyer ;  and  one  when  he  entered  had 
been  a  law  student.  Almost  all  are  meat  eaters,  and  they  use 
both  tea  and  coffee.  A  few  of  the  older  men  are  allowed  to 
chew  tobacco.  There  are  no  fevers  in  the  society,  and  their 
health  is  excellent,  which  arises  partly  I  suppose  from  the  fact 
that  the  ground  upon  which  the  buildings  stand  has  thorough 
natural  drainage.  Some  of  their  members  have  lived  to  the 
age  of  ninety — which  is  not  an  uncommon  age,  by  the  way,  for 
Shakers — and  on  the  register  of  deaths  I  found  these  ages : 
89,  86,  86,  80,  80,  79,  76,  75,  and  so  on. 

They  have  a  library  of  about  two  hundred  volumes  in  each 
family,  exclusive  of  strictly  religious  books ;  and  almost  all  the 
younger  people  can  read  music,  one  of  the  members  being  a 
thorough  teacher  and  good  musical  drill-master.  They  read 
the  Bible  a  good  deal,  and  sometimes  pray  aloud  in  their 
meetings.  Once  or  twice  a  week  they  hold  reading  meetings, 
at  which  some  one  reads  either  from  a  book  of  history  or  biog- 
raphy, or  extracts  from  newspapers. 

There  was  some  years  ago  a  defalcation  in  one  of  the  socie- 
ties, which  "  came  largely  if  not  entirely  through  neglect  of  the 
rule  not  to  owe  money."  The  family  which  suffered  in  this 
case  has  not  entirely  recovered  from  the  blow ;  it  still  ow$s 
a  small  debt. 

An  annual  business  report  is  now  made  by  the  trustees  to 
the  ministry  who  are  set  over  this  society  and  that  at  Canter- 
bury. 

There  is  but  one  Shaker  Society  in  Connecticut,  at 


1 90    Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Enfield,  Conn. 

The  Society  is  in  Hartford  County,  about  twelve  miles  from 
Springfield,  Massachusetts.  It  was  founded  in  1792 ;  and  the 
meeting-house  then  built,  of  brick,  is  still  standing,  but  is  now 
used  for  other  purposes.  There  were  formerly  five  families, 
and  in  1823  this  society  had  two  hundred  members.  At  pres- 
ent there  are  but  four  families,  one  of  which  is  small,  and  con- 
tains only  a  few  aged  people,  too  much  attached  to  their  old 
home  to  be  removed.  There  are  in  the  four  families  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  persons,  of  whom  the  Church  Family  has 
sixty,  and  the  Gathering  Family  twenty-five.  One  third  are 
males  and  two  thirds  females ;  and  there  are  forty-three  chil- 
dren and  youth  under  twenty-one,  of  whom  eighteen  are  boys 
and  twenty-four  girls.  So  late  as  1848  this  society  numbered 
two  hundred  persons. 

They  own  about  three  thousand  three  hundred  acres  of  land, 
and  make  their  living  almost  entirely  by  farming.  Before  the 
rebellion  they  had  built  up  a  large  trade  in  the  Southern  States 
in  garden  seeds ;  but  the  outbreak  of  the  war  not  only  lost  them 
this  trade,  but  in  bad  debts  they  lost  nearly  all  they  had  saved 
in  thirty  years.  They  now  breed  fine  stock,  which  they  sell ; 
and  they  sell  some  hay,  but  only  to  buy  Indian  corn  in  its  stead. 
They  are  careful  and  excellent  farmers.  The  women  make 
some  articles  of  fancy  work.  They  employ  fifteen  hired  men 
constantly. 

This  society  is  prosperous.  One  of  the  families  has  just 
ejected  a  large  and,  for  Shakers,  uncommonly  stylish  dwell- 
ing ;  and  all  the  buildings  are  in  good  repair  and  well  paint- 
ed. Nevertheless  they  have  not  had  an  easy  task  to  make 
a  living.  "  If  we  have  got  any  thing  here,"  said  an  elder  to 
me, "  it  is  because  we  saved  it."  They  have,  however,  the  ad- 
vantage of  an  excellent  farm.  In  the  beginning  they  raised 
garden  seeds,  and  were  among  the  first  in  this  country  to  es- 


The  Shakers.  191 


tablish  this  business,  and  at  one  time  they  made  lead  pipe — 
but  the  invention  of  machinery  drove  them  out  of  that  busi- 
ness. 

They  eat  meat,  and  use  tea  and  coffee  moderately ;  and  a  few 
of  the  old  members  take  snuff.  They  are  mostly  Americans, 
with  a  few  Scotch  and  English,  and  more  than  half  of  the 
adult  members  came  in  when  they  were  full-grown.  About 
forty  years  ago  there  was  in  Ehode  Island  a  religious  revival 
among  a  sect  of  Baptists  who  call  themselves  "  Christians,"  and 
many  of  these  entered  the  Enfield  Society.  They  now  adopt 
a  good  many  children,  and  do  not  seem  displeased  at  the  result. 
They  have  a  school,  and  are  fond  of  music,  having  a  cabinet- 
organ  in  their  music  -  room,  and  holding  a  weekly  singing- 
school  for  the  young  people.  They  take  "  a  great  many  "  news- 
papers and  magazines,  and  have  a  variety  of  books,  but  no 
regular  library.  The  elders  have  the  selection  of  reading- 
matter,  and,  as  in  all  the  societies,  exclude  what  they  think  in- 
jurious. 

They  have  been,  they  told  me,  somewhat  careless  of  sanitary 
regulations,  and  have  had  typhus  fever  in  their  houses;  but 
they  are  now  generally  healthy. 

They  make  very  few  articles  for  themselves,  but  buy  a  good 
deal. 

They  make  no  regular  business  statement,  and  owe  no  debts. 
They  once  had  a  defalcation,  but  only  of  a  trifling  amount. 

Tliere  are  four  Shaker  societies  in  Massachusetts:  at  Har- 
vard, Shirley,  Tyringham,  and  Hancock. 

Harvard. 

The  Harvard  Society  lies  in  Worcester  County,  about  thirty 
miles  northwest  from  Boston.     It  was  founded  in  1793 ;  and 
had  in  1823  two  hundred  members.     It  has  now  four  fam-  ' 
ilies,  containing  in  all  ninety  persons,  of  whom  sixteen  are 


192     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

children  and  youth  under  twenty-one — four  boys  and  twelve 
girls.  Of  the  seventy-four  adult  members,  seventeen  are  men 
and  fifty-seven  women.  The  Church  Family  has  fifty  mem- 
bers, of  whom  forty-one  are  women  and  girls,  and  nine  men 
and  boys.  It  is  usual  among  the  Shakers  to  find  more  wom- 
en than  men  in  a  society  or  family,  but  at  Harvard  the  dispro- 
portion of  the  sexes  is  uncommonly  great. 

The  members  are  mainly  Americans,  but  they  have  some 
Scotch,  Germans,  and  Welsh.  A  considerable  proportion  of 
the  present  membership  came  in  as  adults,  and  these  were,  be- 
fore becoming  Shakers,  for  the  most  part  Adventists,  some 
however  coming  from  the  Baptist  and  Methodist  denomina- 
tions. The  elder  of  the  Gathering  Family  was  a  Baptist,  and 
the  leading  minister  was  an  English  Wesleyan.  The  people 
are  mostly  in  middle  life.  The  health  of  this  society  has  al- 
ways been  good;  the  average  age  at  death,  I  was  assured, 
ranged  for  a  great  number  of  years  between  sixty  to  sixty- 
eight.  One  sister  died  at  ninety-three,  and  other  members 
died  at  from  eighty  to  eighty-six. 

Their  home  farm  consists  of  about  eighteen  hundred  acres ; 
and  they  have  besides  a  farm  in  Michigan,  and  another  in  Mas- 
sachusetts. Their  living  is  made  almost  entirely  by  farming ; 
and  they  have  drained  very  thoroughly  a  considerable  piece 
of  swamp,  which  yields  them  large  crops  of  hay.  They  make 
brooms,  have  a  nursery,  and  press  and  put  up  herbs ;  and  em- 
ploy sixteen  or  seventeen  hired  laborers. 

They  have  a  small  library,  but  "  do  not  let  books  interfere 
with  work ;"  there  is  a  school,  but  no  musical  instrument ; 
most  of  the  people  eat  meat,  and  drink  tea  and  coffee ;  and  a 
few  are  indulged  in  the  practice  of  chewing  tobacco.  They 
are  not  very  musical,  but  they  take  a  great  many  newspapers. 

"  Do  you  like  to  take  children  ?"  I  asked ;  and  an  eldress 
replied, "  Yes,  we  like  to  take  children — but  we  don't  like  to 
take  monkeys ;"  and,  in  general,  the  Shakers  have  discovered 


The  Shakers.  193 


that  "  blood  will  tell,"  and  that  they  can  do  much  better  with 
the  children  of  religious  parents  than  with  those  whose  fa- 
thers or  mothers  wrere  dissolute  or  irreligious. 

This  society  has  no  debt,  and  is  prosperous,  though  its  build- 
ings are  not  all  in  first-rate  order  according  to  the  Shaker 
standard,  which  is  very  high.  It  has  suffered  from  one  defal- 
cation. 

The  ministry  among  the  Shakers  usually  occupy  their  spare 
time  in  some  manual  labor,  as  I  have  explained  in  a  previous 
chapter.  The  leading  minister  over  Harvard  and  Shirley 
makes  brooms ;  his  predecessor  made  shoes.  The  leading  fe- 
male minister  is  a  dress-maker. 

Shirley. 

The  Society  of  Shirley  lies  about  two  miles  from  Shirley 
Station,  on  the  Fitchburg  Kailroad.  It  was  gathered  in  1793, 
the  meeting-house  having  been  built  the  year  before.  Mother 
Ann  Lee  passed  nearly  two  years  among  the  people  in  this  vi- 
cinity, preaching  to  them;  and  this  accounts  for  the  early 
building  of  the  meeting-house.  In  1823  the  Shirley  Society 
had  one  hundred  and  fifty  members.  At  present  it  has  two 
families,  numbering  altogether  forty-eight  persons ;  of  these 
twelve  are  children  and  youth  under  twenty-one — eight  girls 
and  four  boys.  Of  the  adults,  six  are  men  and  thirty  women. 
Until  a  year  ago  there  were  three  families,  but  decreasing 
numbers  led  them  to  call  in  one  ;  and  they  now  let  the  build- 
ings formerly  used  by  that  one.  Thirty-five  years  ago  this 
society  numbered  one  hundred  and  fifty  persons ;  twenty-four 
years  ago,  seventy-five ;  twenty  years  ago  it  had  sixty.  As 
the  old  people,  the  founders,  died  off,  new  members  did  not 
come  in.  They  have  not  now  many  applications  for  member- 
ship ;  and  of  the  children  they  adopt  and  bring  up,  not  one  in 
ten  becomes  a  Shaker. 

The  society  owns  two  thousand  acres  of  land,  which  in- 


194     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

eludes  several  outlying  farms.  They  employ  nine  or  ten  hired 
laborers;  and  their  main  business  is  to  make  apple-sauce,  of 
which  they  sell  from  five  to  six  tons  every  year.  One  family 
makes  brooms ;  and  they  all  preserve  fruit,  make  jellies  and 
pickles,  dry  sweet  corn,  and  in  the  spring  make  maple-sugar. 
The  women  make  fancy  articles  for  sale.  Farming  is  also  a 
considerable  business  with  them,  and  they  have  good  orchards. 

Most  of  the  members  grew  up  in  the  society,  and  the  greater 
number  of  them  are,  I  believe,  past  middle  age.  Like  all  the 
Shakers,  they  are  long-lived — one  sister,  a  colored  woman,  is 
eighty,  and  another  eighty-eight — and  their  mortality  rate  is 
low.  Most  of  the  members  are  Americans,  but  they  have  a 
few  Nova-Scotians.  Most  of  them  eat  meat,  and  drink  tea, 
but  no  coffee ;  and  they  are  especially  fond  of  oatmeal.  One 
old  member  both  smokes  and  snuffs,  but  none  others  use  to- 
bacco in  any  shape.  They  are  fond  of  flowers,  but  do  not  cul- 
tivate any;  have  "plenty"  of  books  and  newspapers,  but  no 
regular  library  ;  like  music,  but  have  no  musical  instrument ; 
and  they  are  fond  of  the  Bible.  Among  their  meetings  is  one 
for  singing. 

Their  buildings  are  not  so  large  as  those  of  a  Shaker  settle- 
ment usually  are,  but  they  are  in  excellent  order,  and  include 
an  infirmary,  a  house  for  aged  and  feeble  members,  a  nice 
school-room,  and  a  laundry.  They  have  the  reputation  in  the 
neighborhood  of  being  wealthy ;  and  had  the  enterprise  once 
to  build  a  large  cotton  factory,  on  the  shore  of  a  pond  which 
they  then  owned.  This  building  they  have  sold.  It  ran  them 
into  debt ;  and  this  they  did  not  like.  They  were  poor  at  first ; 
have  never  had  any  defalcation ;  have  no  debt  now ;  and  make 
no  regular  business  statement,  trusting  to  the  ministry  to  keep 
a  proper  oversight  of  their  accounts. 

In  the  school  at  Shirley  physiology  was  taught,  and  with  re- 
markable success  as  it  seemed  to  me,  with  the  help  of  charts ; 
the  children  seemed  uncommonly  intelligent  and  bright.  The 


The  Shakers.  195 


school  is  open  three  months  in  the  summer  and  three  in  the 
winter — two  hours  in  the  forenoon  and  two  in  the  afternoon  ; 
and  the  teacher,  a  young  girl,  was  also  the  care-taker  of  the 
girls.  Singing-school  is  held,  for  the  children,  in  the  evening. 
The  societies  at  Hancock  and  Tyringham  lie  near  the  New 
York  State  line,  among  the  Berkshire  hills.  The}7  are  small, 
and  have  no  noticeable  features. 

There  are  three  Shaker  societies  in  New  York :  at  Mount 
Lebanon,  Watervliet,  and  Groveland. 

Mount  Lebanon. 

The  Mount  Lebanon  Society  lies  in  Columbia  County,  two 
miles  from  New  Lebanon.  It  is  the  parent  society  among 
the  Shakers,  and  its  ministry  has  a  general  oversight  over  all 
the  societies.  It  is  also  the  most  numerous. 

The  Mount  Lebanon  Society  was  founded  in  1787.  In  1823 
it  numbered  between  five  hundred  and  six  hundred  persons ; 
at  this  time  it  has  three  hundred  and  eighty-three,  including 
forty-seven  children  and  youth  under  fifteen.  This  society  is 
divided  into  seven  families ;  and  its  membership  has  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-six  males  and  two  hundred  and  forty-seven 
females,  including  children  and  youth. 

It  owns  about  three  thousand  acres  of  land  within  the  State 
of  New  York,  besides  some  farms  in  other  states ;  and  several 
of  its  farms  in  its  own  neighborhood  are  in  charge  of  tenants. 
The  different  families  employ  a  considerable  number  of  hired 
laborers.  They  raise  and  put  up  garden  seeds,  make  brooms, 
dry  medicinal  herbs  and  make  extracts,  dry  sweet  corn,  and 
make  chairs  and  mops.  The  women  in  all  the  families  also 
make  mats,  fans,  dusters,  and  other  fancy  articles  for  sale ;  and 
one  of  the  families  keep  some  sheep. 

In  a  previous  chapter  I  have  given  so  many  details  concern- 
ing the  Mount  Lebanon  Society  that  I  need  here  say  nothing 


196     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

further  about  it,  except  that  it  is   in   a  highly  prosperous 

condition. 

Watervliet. 

The  society  at  Watervliet  lies  seven  miles  northwest  from 
Albany,  and  upon  the  ground  where  Ann  Lee  and  her  follow- 
ers first  settled  when  they  came  to  America.  Her  body  lies  in 
the  grave-yard  at  Watervliet.  No  monument  is  built  over  it. 

The  society  there  has  now  four  families,  containing  two 
hundred  and  thirty-five  persons,  of  whom  sixty  are  children 
and  youth  under  twenty-one.  Of  the  adult  members,  seventy- 
five  are  men  and  one  hundred  women.  In  1823  it  had  over 
two  hundred  members ;  between  1837  and  1850  it  had  three 
hundred  and  fifty. 

It  has  in  its  home  estate  twenty-five  hundred  acres  of  land, 
and  owns  besides  about  two  thousand  acres  in  the  same  state, 
and  thirty  thousand  acres  in  Kentucky.  Its  chief  industry  is 
farming,  and  the  families  keep  a  large  number  of  sheep  and 
cattle.  They  shear  wool  enough  to  supply  all  their  own  needs 
in  cloth  and  flannel,  but  have  these  woven  by  an  outside 
mill ;  they  raise  large  crops  of  broom-corn  and  sweet  corn :  the 
first  they  make  into  brooms,  and  the  other  they  put  up  dry  in 
barrels  for  sale ;  they  put  up  fruits  and  vegetables  in  tin  cans, 
and  also  sell  garden  seeds.  They  have  given  up  their  tan-yard, 
which  was  once  a  source  of  income.  Finally,  they  make  in 
their  own  shops,  for  the  use  of  the  society,  shoes,  carpets,  cloth- 
ing, furniture,  and  almost  all  the  articles  of  household  use  they 
require. 

They  hire  about  seventy-five  laborers. 

Most  of  the  members  are  Americans,  and  three  quarters  of 
them  grew  up  from  childhood  in  the  society.  Among  the 
membership  are  some  Germans,  English,  Irish,  Swedes,  Scotch, 
and  two  or  three  French  people.  Some  among  them  were  orig- 
inally clergymen,  others  lawyers,  mechanics,  and  gardeners;  but 
the  greater  number  are  farmers  by  occupation.  Some  of  those 


The  Shakers.  197 


who  came  in  as  adults  had  been  "  Infidels,"  some  Adventists, 
others  Methodists.  The  society  at  this  time  contains  more 
young  than  old  people. 

Most  of  the  people  eat  meat,  and  drink  tea  and  coffee.  Some 
use  tobacco,  but  this  is  discouraged. 

They  had  formerly  a  good  many  colored  members;  and 
have  still  some,  as  well  as  several  mulattoes  and  quadroons. 

One  colored  sister  is  ninety  years  of  age. 

The  members  here  have  been  long-lived ;  the  register  proves 
this :  it  shows  deaths  at  ninety-seven,  ninety-four,  ninety-three, 
ninety,  and  so  on.  They  are  careful  to  have  thorough  drain- 
age and  ventilation,  and  pay  attention  to  sanitary  questions. 
They  were  formerly  subject  to  bilious  fevers ;  but  since  reject- 
ing the  use  of  pork,  these  fevers  have  disappeared. 

They  take  a  number  of  newspapers,  and  have  a  library  of 
four  hundred  volumes,  but  the  people  are  not  great  readers, 
and  are  fonder  of  religious  books  and  works  of  popular  science 
than  of  any  other  literature.  There  is  a  school ;  and  the  chil- 
dren are  now  to  have  instruction  in  music,  as  one  of  the  families 
has  bought  an  organ,  and  asked  a  musical  brother  from  New 
Hampshire  to  come  down  and  give  lessons.  Instrumental  mu- 
sic, however,  has  been  opposed  by  the  older  members,  and  here 
as  in  some  of  the  other  societies  it  has  been  introduced  only 
after  prolonged  discussion. 

This  society  has  no  debts,  and  has  never  suffered  from  the 
unfaithfulness  of  agents  or  trustees.  It  is  in  a  very  prosperous 
condition.  Each  family  makes  a  detailed  annual  report  to  the 
presiding  ministry,  and  a  daily  diary  of  events  is  kept. 

They  have  baths  in  the  dwellings,  and  well-arranged  laun- 
dries. 

The  Watervliet  and  Mount  Lebanon  Societies  have  a  num- 
ber of  members  living  in  the  outer  world,  but  holding  to  Shak- 
er principles,  and  maintaining  by  correspondence  a  connection 
with  them.  Some  of  these  are  inhabitants  of  cities,  and  "  above 


1 98     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

the  average  in  wealth  and  culture,"  I  was  told.  The  Water- 
vliet  Society  has  also  a  branch  at  Philadelphia,  consisting  of 
twelve  colored  women,  who  live  together  in  one  house  under 
the  leadership  of  an  old  woman,  who  was  moved  about  twenty 
years  ago  to  leave  this  society  and  go  to  Philadelphia  to  preach 
among  her  people.  The  members  find  employment  as  day  serv- 
ants in  different  families,  going  home  every  night.  They  main- 
ly support  themselves,  and  have  never  asked  for  help  from  the 
society ;  but  this  occasionally  makes  them  presents,  and  keeps 
a  general  oversight  over  them. 

Groveland. 

The  Groveland  Society  lies  near  Sonyea,  in  Livingston  Coun- 
ty, thirty -seven  miles  from  Rochester  on  the  Dansville  and 
Mount  Morris  branch  of  the  Erie  Railway.  This  society  was 
founded  at  Sodus  Point  in  1826,  and  removed  from  there  to 
its  present  location  in  1836.  They  had  at  that  time  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  members ;  and  were  most  numerous  about  twen- 
ty-five years  ago,  when  they  had  two  hundred  members.  At 
present  they  have  two  families,  with  fifty-seven  members  in  all, 
of  whom  nine  are  children  under  twenty-one;  of  these  last,  six 
are  girls  and  three  boys.  Of  the  adults,  thirty  are  females 
and  eighteen  males. 

They  own  a  home  farm  of  two  thousand  acres,  and  an  out- 
lying farm  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  mostly  good  land, 
and  very  well  placed,  a  canal  and  two  railroads  running  through 
their  home  farm.  They  have  a  saw-mill  and  grist-mill,  which 
are  sources  of  income  to  them ;  and  they  raise  broom-corn, 
make  brooms,  and  dry  apples  and  sweet  corn.  The  women 
make  fancy  articles  for  sale.  They  also  keep  fine  cattle,  and 
sell  a  good  deal  of  high-priced  stock.  Farming  and  garden- 
ing are  their  chief  employments,  as  they  have  a  ready  sale  for 
all  they  produce.  They  employ  eight  hired  laborers. 

The  members  are  mostly  Americans,  raised  in  the  society ; 


The  Shakers.  199 


but  they  have  French  Canadians,  Dutch,  German,  Irish,  and 
English  among  them.  The  French  Canadians  were  Catholics, 
and  some  of  their  other  members  were  Episcopalians,  Presby- 
terians, and  Methodists.  Most  of  those  who  came  in  as  adults 
were  farmers.  They  are  long-lived — living  to  beyond  seventy 
in  a  considerable  number  of  cases. 

They  eat  meat,  drink  tea  and  coffee,  and  some  aged  mem- 
bers who  came  in  late  in  life,  with  confirmed  habits,  are  al- 
lowed to  use  tobacco.  One  sister  smokes. 

They  have  a  school,  and  a  good  miscellaneous  library  of 
about  four  hundred  volumes,  in  a  case  in  the  dwelling-house 
of  the  Church  Family.  They  sing  finely,  but  are  opposed  to 
the  introduction  of  musical  instruments.  In  some  of  their 
evening  meetings  they  read  aloud,  and  the  last  book  thus  read 
was  Mr.  Seward's  "  Journey  around  the  World." 

They  do  not  adopt  as  many  children  as  formerly,  and  ex- 
perience has  taught  them  the  necessity  of  knowing  something 
of  the  parentage  of  children,  in  order  to  make  judicious  selec- 
tions. 

"  Formerly  we  had  one  or  two  physicians  among  our 
members,  and  then  there  was  much  sickness;  now  that  we 
have  no  doctor  there  is  but  little  illness,  and  the  health  of  the 
society  is  good." 

One  of  the  families  is  in  debt,  through  an  imprudent  pur- 
chase of  land  made  by  a  trustee,  without  the  general  knowl- 
edge of  the  society.  Moreover  they  have  suffered  severely 
from  fires  and  by  a  flood.  Once  seven  of  their  buildings  were 
burned  down  in  a  night.  In  this  way  a  fund  they  had  at  in- 
terest was  expended  in  repairs.  But  the  society  seems  now  to 
be  prosperous ;  its  buildings  are  in  excellent  order,  and  the 
brick  dwelling  of  the  Church  Family,  built  in  1857,  is  well  ar- 
ranged and  a  fine  structure.  They  have  a  steam  laundry  and 
a  fine  dairy.  In  their  shops  they  carry  on  blacksmithing,  car- 
pentry, tailoring,  and  dress-making. 


2OO    Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

They  make  a  regular  annual  business  statement  to  the  pre- 
siding ministry. 

At  intervals  they  send  out  one  or  two  brethren  to  preach 
to  the  outer  world  upon  Shakerism. 

There  are  four  Shaker  societies  in  Ohio:  Union  Village, 
near  Lebanon ;  Worth  Union,  near  Cleveland ;  Water vliet, 
near  Dayton ;  and  Whitewater,  near  Harrison. 

Union  Village. 

The  society  at  Union  Village  lies  four  miles  from  Lebanon, 
in  Warren  County,  Ohio.  It  is  the  oldest  Shaker  settlement 
in  the  West ;  the  three  "  witnesses  "  sent  out  from  Mount  Leb- 
anon in  1805  were  here  received  by  a  prosperous  farmer  named 
Malchas  Worley,  who  became  a  "  Believer,"  and  whose  influ- 
ence greatly  helped  to  spread  the  Shaker  doctrines  among  his 
neighbors.  His  small  dwelling  still  stands  near  the  large  house 
of  one  of  the  families,  and  is  kept  in  neat  repair ;  it  lies  in  the 
heart  of  the  society's  present  estate. 

The  ministry  of  Union  Village,  while  subordinate  to  that 
at  Mount  Lebanon,  rules  or  has  a  general  oversight  of  the 
western  societies  in  Ohio  and  Kentucky ;  and  in  former  times 
there  has  been  a  good  deal  of  printing  done  there,  a  number 
of  Shaker  publications  having  been  written  and  published  at 
Union  Village. 

The  society  at  Union  Village  consists  of  four  families,  con- 
taining at  this  time  two  hundred  and  fifteen  persons,  of  whom 
ninety-five  are  males  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  females. 
Of  the  whole  number,  forty -eight  are  children  and  youth 
under  twenty-one,  and  of  these  twenty  are  boys  and  twenty- 
eight  girls.  Between  1827  and  1830  it  had  six  hundred  mem- 
bers, and  at  that  time  there  were  six  families.  It  had,  however, 
about  that  time  received  sudden  and  considerable  accessions 
from  the  dissolution  of  the  Shaker  Society  in  Indiana,  which 


The  Shakers.  201 


left  that  state  on  account  of  the  unhealthf ulness  of  the  country, 
and  whose  members  were  divided  among  the  Ohio  societies. 
In  the  last  ten  years  I  was  told  there  had  been  neither  gain 
nor  loss  of  numbers,  taking  the  average  of  the  year ;  for  here, 
as  elsewhere,  there  is  usually  a  swelling  of  the  ranks  in  the 
fall,  from  what  are  called  "  winter  Shakers." 

The  society  at  Union  Tillage  was  "  gathered  "  between  1805 
and  1810.  The  oldest  building  dates  from  180T,  and  others, 
of  brick  and  still  in  excellent  preservation,  bear  the  dates  of 
1810  and  1811.  All  the  buildings  are  in  good  order;  and 
this  society  is  among  the  most  prosperous  in  the  order.  Its 
families  own  a  magnificent  estate  of  four  thousand  five  hun- 
dred acres  lying  in  the  famous  Miami  bottom,  a  soil  much 
of  which  is  so  fertile  that  after  sixty  years  of  cropping  it 
will  still  yield  from  sixty  to  seventy  bushels  of  corn  to  the 
acre,  and  without  manuring.  They  have  also  some  outlying 
farms.  They  have  no  debt,  and  one  of  the  families  has  a  fund 
at  interest. 

They  let  much  of  their  land  to  tenants,  having  not  less  than 
forty  thus  settled  and  working  the  soil  on  shares.  Besides  this, 
the  different  families  employ  about  thirty  hired  laborers. 
Their  industries  are  broom-making,  raising  garden  seeds  and 
medicinal  herbs,  and  preparing  medicinal  extracts.  They  also 
make  a  sirup  of  sarsaparilla,  and  one  or  two  other  patent 
medicines;  they  have  a  saw  and  a  grist  mill;  the  women 
make  small  fancy  articles  and  baskets.  But  their  most  profit- 
able business  is  the  growth  of  fine  stock — thoroughbred  Dur- 
ham cattle  chiefly.  They  have,  of  course,  shops  in  which  they 
make  and  mend  what  they  need  for  themselves — tailor's,  shoe- 
maker's, blacksmith's,  wagon-maker's,  etc.  Formerly  they  man- 
ufactured more  than  at  present — having  made  at  one  time,  for 
the  general  market,  steel,  leather,  hollow- ware,  pipes,  and  wool- 
en yarn.  Prosperity  has  lessened  their  enterprise.  Three  of 
the  families  have  very  complete  laundries. 


2O2     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

They  eat  meat,  but  no  pork ;  and  only  a  very  few  of  the 
aged  members  use  tobacco.  They  have  an  excellent  school,  of 
which  one  of  the  ministry,  an  intelligent  and  kindly  man,  is 
the  teacher.  They  have  a  small  library — "  not  so  many  books 
as  we  would  like ;"  and  one  of  the  sisters  told  me  that  she  got 
books  from  a  circulating  library  at  Lebanon,  and  as  a  special 
indulgence  was  allowed  to  read  novels  sometimes,  which,  she 
remarked,  she  found  useful  to  set  her  to  sleep.  They  have 
two  cabinet-organs,  and  believe  in  cultivating  music. 

The  founders  of  this  society  were  mostly  Presbyterians. 
Their  successors  have  been  Methodists,  Baptists,  Quakers,  and 
I  found,  to  my  surprise,  several  Catholics,  one  of  whom  was 
originally  a  Spanish  priest.  Almost  all  are  Americans,  but 
there  are  a  few  Germans  and  English. 

They  do  not  care  to  take  children  unless  they  are  accom- 
panied by  their  parents;  and  refuse  to  take  any  under  nine 
years,  unless  they  come  as  part  of  a  family.  Not  more  than 
ten  per  cent,  of  the  children  they  train  up  remain  with  them ; 
but  they  said  it  was  not  uncommon  to  see  them  return  after 
spending  some  years  in  the  world,  and  in  such  cases  they  often 
made  good  Shakers.  During  the  war  a  number  of  their  young 
men  went  off  to  become  soldiers.  Several  of  those  who  sur- 
vived returned,  and  are  now  among  them. 

They  have  no  provision  for  baths. 

In  1835  they  suffered  from  the  defalcation  of  a  trustee,  to 
the  amount  of  between  forty  and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

I  looked  over  a  list  of  deaths  during  the  last  thirty  years,  and 
was  surprised  to  find  how  many  members  had  lived  to  ninety 
and  past,  and  how  large  a  proportion  died  at  over  seventy. 

"  Are  you  all  Spiritualists,"  I  asked,  and  was  answered,  "  Of 
course ;"  but  presently  one  added, "  We  are  all  Spiritualists,  in  a 
general  sense ;  but  there  are  some  real  Spiritualists  here ;"  and 
I  judge  that  here  as  in  some  of  the  other  societies  Spiritualism 
is  not  much  thought  of.  I  saw  the  "  Sacred  Eoll  and  Book  " 


The  Shakers.  203 


on  a  table,  but  was  told  it  was  not  much  read  nowadays,  but 
that  they  read  the  Bible  a  good  deal. 

I  found  that  for  the  last  three  years  they  have  had  here 
what  they  call  a  Lyceum :  a  kind  of  debating  club  which 
meets  once  a  week,  for  the  discussion  of  set  questions,  reading, 
and  the  criticism  of  essays  written  by  the  members.  The  last 
question  discussed  was,  "  Whether  it  is  best  for  the  Shaker  so- 
cieties to  work  on  cash  or  credit." 

This  Lyceum  has  produced  another  meeting  in  the  Church 
Family,  in  which,  once  a  week,  all  the  members — male  and  fe- 
male, young  and  old — are  gathered  to  overhaul  the  accounts  of 
the  week,  and  to  discuss  all  the  industrial  occupations  of  the 
family,  agricultural  and  mechanical,  as  well  as  housekeeping 
and  every  thing  relating  to  their  practical  life.  These  weekly 
meetings  are  found  to  give  the  younger  members  a  greater  in- 
terest in  the  society,  and  they  were  established  because  it  was 
thought  necessary  to  make  efforts  to  keep  the  youth  whom  they 
bring  up.  "  We  will  never  change  the  fundamental  principles 
and  practices  of  Shakerism,"  said  one  of  the  older  and  official 
members,  an  uncommonly  intelligent  Shaker,  to  me.  "  Celibacy 
and  the  confession  of  sins  are  vital ;  but  in  all  else  we  ought 
to  be  changeable,  and  may  modify  our  practices ;  and  we  feel 
that  we  must  do  something  to  make  home  more  pleasant  for 
our  young  people — they  want  more  music  and  more  books,  and 
shall  have  them;  they  are  greatly  interested  in  these  weekly 
business  meetings;  and  I  am  in  favor  of  giving  them  just  as 
much  and  as  broad  an  education  as  they  desire." 

The  business  meeting  lasts  an  hour,  and  the  "  Elder  Brother 
in  the  Ministry"  presides.  I  saw  some  evidences  that  this 
meeting  aroused  thought.  Any  member  may  bring  up  a  sub- 
ject for  discussion ;  and  I  heard  some  of  the  sisters  say  that 
one  matter  which  had  occupied  their  thoughts  was  the  too 
great  monotony  of  their  own  lives — they  desired  greater  vari- 
ety, and  thought  women  might  do  some  other  things  besides 

P 


204     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

cooking.  One  thought  it  would  be  an  improvement  to  abolish 
the  caps,  and  let  the  hair  have  its  natural  growth  and  appear- 
ance— but  I  am  afraid  she  might  be  called  a  radical. 

The  founders  of  Union  Tillage  were  evidently  men  who  did 
their  work  thoroughly;  the  dwellings  and  houses  they  built 
early  in  the  century,  all  of  brick,  have  a  satisfactory  solidity, 
and  are  not  without  the  homely  charm  which  good  work  and 
plain  outlines  give  to  any  building.  Two  of  these  old  houses 
in  the  Church  Family  are  now  used  as  the  boys'  and  the  girls' 
houses,  and  are  uncommonly  good  specimens  of  early  Western 
architecture.  The  whole  village  is  a  pattern  of  neatness,  with 
flagged  walks  and  pleasant  grassy  court-yards  and  shade-trees ; 
but  I  noticed  here  and  there  a  slackness  in  repairs  which 
seemed  to  show  the  want  of  a  deacon's  sharp  eyes. 

North  Union. 

The  North  Union  Shaker  Society  lies  eight  miles  northeast 
from  Cleveland.  It  was  founded  in  1822,  in  what  was  then  a 
thickly  timbered  wilderness,  and  the  people  lived  for  some 
years  in  log  cabins.  The  society  was  "most  numerous  about 
1840,  when  it  contained  two  hundred  members.  It  is  now  di- 
vided into  three  families,  having  one  hundred  and  two  persons, 
of  whom  seventeen  are  children  and  youth  under  twenty-one. 
Of  these  last,  six  are  boys  and  eleven  girls.  Of  the  adult 
members,  forty-four  are  women  and  forty-one  men.  Their 
numbers  have  of  late  increased,  but  there  was  a  gradual  dimi- 
nution for  fifteen  years  before  that. 

About  a  third  of  the  present  members  were  brought  up  in 
the  society  ;  of  the  remainder,  the  most  were  by  religious  con- 
nection Adventists,  Methodists,  and  Baptists.  They  have 
among  them  persons  who  were  weavers,  whalemen,  and  sailors, 
but  most  of  them  were  farmers.  The  greater  number  are 
Americans,  but  they  have  some  Swiss,  Germans,  and  English. 
They  do  not  like  to  take  in  children  unless  their  parents  come 


The  Shakers.  205 


with  them.  The  health  of  the  society  has  been  very  good. 
Many  of  their  people  have  lived  to  past  eighty ;  one  sister  died 
at  ninety-eight.  In  the  last  fifty  years  they  have  buried  just 
one  hundred  persons. 

They  eat  but  little  meat ;  use  tea  and  coffee,  but  moderate- 
ly, and  "  bear  against  tobacco,"  but  permit  its  use  in  certain 
cases.  But  they  allow  no  one  to  both  smoke  and  chew  the 
weed.  They  have  a  school,  and  like  to  sing,  but  do  not  allow 
musical  instruments. 

Less  than  a  quarter  of  the  young  people  whom  they  bring 
up  remain  with  them. 

They  own  1355  acres  of  land  in  one  body,  and  have  no  out- 
lying farms.  They  have  a  saw-mill,  and  make  brooms,  broom- 
handles,  and  stocking  yarn.  But  their  chief  sources  of  income 
arise  from  supplying  milk  and  vegetables  to  Cleveland,  as  well 
as  fire-wood,  and  some  lumber,  and  they  keep  fine  stock.  They 
used  to  make  wooden  ware.  Their  dairy  brought  them  in 
$2300  last  year.  They  employ  nine  hired  men. 

The  buildings  of  this  society  are  not  in  as  neat  order  as  those 
of  Groveland  or  others  eastward.  I  missed  the  thorough  cov- 
ering of  paint,  and  the  neatness  of  shops.  They  have  no  steam 
laundry,  and  make  no  provision  for  baths.  But  they  have  the 
usual  number  of  "shops,"  among  them  an  infirmary,  or  in 
Shaker  language  a  "  nurse-shop."  They  have  a  small  library, 
and  take  two  daily  newspapers,  the  New  York  World  and  Sun. 
They  read  the  Bible  "  when  they  have  a  gift  for  it,"  but  de- 
pend much  upon  their  own  revelations  from  the  spirit-land. 

They  owe  no  debts,  and  have  a  fund  at  interest.  They 
make  a  detailed  annual  report  to  the  presiding  ministry.  They 
have  never  suffered  serious  loss  from  mismanagement  and  de- 
faulting agents  or  trustees. 

Watervliet  and  Whitewater. 
The  two  societies  of  Watervliet  and  Whitewater,  in  Ohio,  I 


206     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

did  not  visit.  They  are  small,  and  subordinate  to  that  of  Union 
Village. 

The  society  at  Watervliet  has  two  families,  containing  fifty- 
five  members,  of  whom  nineteen  are  males  and  thirty-six  fe- 
males ;  and  seven  are  under  twenty-one.  They  own  thirteen 
hundred  acres  of  land,  much  of  which  they  let  to  tenants. 
They  have  a  wool-factory,  which  is  their  only  manufactory. 

This  society  was  founded  a  year  after  that  at  Union  Village ; 
it  had  in  1825  one  hundred  members ;  and  is  now  prosperous, 
pecuniarily,  having  no  debt,  and  money  at  interest.  One  of  its 
families  once  suffered  a  slight  loss  from  a  defalcation. 

The  society  at  Whitewater  has  three  families,  and  one  hun- 
dred members,  of  whom  fifteen  are  under  twenty-one.  There 
are  forty  males  and  sixty  females.  It  was  founded  in  1827, 
and  many  among  its  members  came  from  the  society  which 
broke  up  in  Indiana.  It  had  at  one  time  one  hundred  and 
fifty  members. 

It  owns  fifteen  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  has  no  debt,  but 
a  fund  at  interest  in  each  family.  The  families  put  up  garden 
seeds,  make  brooms,  raise  stock,  and  farm. 

There  are  two  societies  in  Kentucky,  one  at  South  Union,  in 
Logan  County,  on  the  line  of  the  Nashville  Railroad,  and  one 
at  Pleasant  Hill,  in  Mercer  County,  seven  miles  from  Harrods- 
burg.  They  are  both  prosperous. 

South  Union. 

The  society  at  South  Union  was  founded  nearly  on  the  scene 
of  the  wild  "Kentucky  revival"  in  the  year  1807,  the  gath- 
ering taking  place  in  1809.  Some  of  the  log  cabins  then  built 
by  the  early  members  are  still  standing,  and  the  first  meeting- 
house, built  in  1810,  bears  that  date  on  its  front.  I  judge  that 
the  early  members  were  poor,  from  the  fact  that  they  lived  for 
some  time  in  cabins.  Some  who  came  into  the  society  at  an 


The  Shakers.  207 


early  date  were  slaveholders;  and  as  the  Shakers  have  always 
consistently  opposed  slavery,  these  set  their  slaves  free,  but 
induced  them  to  the  number  of  forty  to  join  them.  For  many 
years  there  was  a  colored  family,  with  a  colored  elder,  living 
upon  the  same  terms  as  the  whites.  From  time  to  time  some 
of  these  fell  away  and  left  the  society ;  but  I  was  told  that  a 
number  became  and  remained  "good  Shakers,"  and  died  in 
the  faith ;  and  when  the  colored  family  became  too  small,  the 
remnant  of  members  was  taken  in  among  the  whites.  There 
are  at  present  several  colored  members. 

There  were  originally  three  families,  but  now  four,  one  of 
which,  however,  is  small.  The  society  numbers  two  hundred 
and  thirty  persons,  of  whom  one  hundred  are  males  and  one 
hundred  and  thirty  females,  and  forty  of  these  are  under 
twenty-one — twenty-five  girls  and  fifteen  boys.  In  1827  they 
were  most  numerous,  having  three  hundred  and  forty-nine  per- 
sons* in  all  the  families ;  they  had  at  one  time  but  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five,  and  have  risen  from  that  in  the  last 
twenty  years  to  their  present  number.  For  some  years  they 
have  neither  increased  nor  diminished,  except  by  the  coming 
and  going  of  "  winter  Shakers,"  and  "  we  sift  pretty  carefully," 
they  told  me.  Most  of  the  members  are  Americans,  but  they 
have  some  Germans  and  a  few  English,  and  they  had  at  one 
time  several  French  Catholics. 

They  own  nearly  six  thousand  acres  of  land,  of  which  three 
thousand  five  hundred  acres  are  in  the  home  farm,  the  remain- 
der about  four  miles  off.  The  South  Union  Shakers  were  early 
famous  for  fine  stock,  which  they  sold  in'  Missouri  and  in 
the  Northwestern  states  and  territories.  They  still  raise  fine 
breeds  of  cattle,  hogs,  sheep,  and  chickens,  and  this  is  a  consid- 
erable source  of  income  to  them.  Some  of  their  land  they  let 


*  The  "Millennial  Church"  gives  their  number  at  four  hundred  about 
1825,  but  I  follow  the  account  given  me  at  South  Union. 


208     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

to  tenants,  among  whom  I  found  several  colored  families ;  they 
have  also  extensive  orchards ;  the  remainder  they  cultivate, 
raising — besides  the  pasturage  of  their  stock — corn,  wheat,  rye, 
and  oats.  They  have  also  a  good  grist-mill,  from  which  they 
ship  flour;  they  own  a  large  brick  hotel  at  the  railroad  station, 
which,  I  was  told,  is  a  summer  resort,  there  being  a  sulphur 
spring  near  it,  also  a  store,  both  of  which  they  rent  to  "  world's 
people ;"  and  they  make  brooms,  put  up  garden  seeds — which 
was  formerly  an  important  business  with  them — and  prepare 
canned  and  preserved  fruits,  which  they  sell  largely  in  the 
Southern  States.  I  saw  here  on  the  table  those  very  sweet  "  pre- 
serves "  which  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  were  to  be  found  on 
every  farmer's  table  in  New  England,  if  he  had  a  thrifty  wife, 
and  which,  after  breeding  a  kind  of  epidemic  of  dyspepsia,  have 
now,  I  think,  entirely  disappeared  from  our  Northern  tables.  It 
seems  they  are  still  served  on  "  company  occasions"  in  the  South. 

They  have  for  their  home  use  a  tannery,  and  shops  for  tai- 
loring, shoemaking,  carpentering,  and  blacksmithing ;  and  they 
employ  fifteen  hired  people,  all  negroes. 

Their  buildings,  which  are  both  brick  and  frame,  are  all  in 
excellent  condition ;  and  the  large  pines  and  Norway  spruces 
growing  near  the  dwellings  (and  "  trimmed  up  " — or  robbed  of 
their  lower  branches,  as  the  abominable  fashion  has  too  long  been 
in  this  country),  show  that  the  founders  provided  for  their  de- 
scendants some  grateful  shade.  Near  the  Church  Family  they 
showed  me  two  fine  old  oaks,  under  which  Henry  Clay  once 
partook  of  a  public  dinner,  while  at  another  time  James  Mon- 
roe and  Andrew  Jackson  stopped  for  a  day  at  the  country  tav- 
ern which  once  stood  near  by,  when  the  stage  road  ran  near 
here.  "  Monroe,"  said  one  of  the  older  members  to  me,  "  was  a 
stout,  thickset  man,  plain,  and  with  but  little  to  say ;  Jackson, 
tall  and  thin,  with  a  hickory  visage."  Naturally,  this  being  Ken- 
tucky, Clay  was  held  to  be  the  greatest  character  of  the  three. 

Here,  too,  as  I  am  upon  antiquities,  T  saw  old  men  who  in 


The  Shakers.  209 


their  youth  had  taken  part  in  the  great  "  revival,"  and  had 
seen  the  "  jerks,"  which  were  so  horrible  a  feature  of  that  re- 
ligious excitement,  and  of  which  I  have  previously  quoted  some 
descriptions  from  McNemar's  "  Kentucky  Revival."  To  dance, 
I  was  here  told,  was  the  cure  for  the  "  jerks ;"  and  men  often 
danced  until  they  dropped  to  the  ground.  "  It  was  of  no  use 
to  try  to  resist  the  jerks,"  the  old  men  assured  me.  "  Young 
men  sometimes  came  determined  to  make  fun  of  the  proceed- 
ings, and  were  seized  before  they  knew  of  it."  Men  were  "  flung 
from  their  horses ;"  "  a  young  fellow,  famous  for  drinking, 
cursing,  and  violence,  was  leaning  against  a  tree  looking  on, 
when  he  was  jerked  to  the  ground,  slam  bang.  He  swore  he 
would  not  dance,  and  he  was  jerked  about  until  it  was  a  won- 
der he  was  not  killed.  At  last  he  had  to  dance."  "  Sometimes 
they  would  be  jerked  about  like  a  cock  with  his  head  off,  all 
about  the  ground."  The  dancing  I  judge  to  have  been  an  in- 
voluntary convulsive  movement,  which  was  the  close  of  the 
general  spasm.  Of  course,  the  people  believed  the  whole  was 
a  "  manifestation  of  the  power  of  God."  There  is  no  reason 
to  doubt  that  McXemar's  descriptions  are  accurate ;  from  what 
I  have  heard  at  South  Union,  I  imagine  that  his  account  is  not 
complete. 

The  South  Union  Shakers  have  no  debt,  and  mean  to  obey 
the  rule  in  this  regard ;  they  have  a  very  considerable  fund 
at  interest.  They  eat  meat,  but  no  pork ;  drink  tea  and  coffee, 
and  some  of  them  use  tobacco — even  the  younger  members. 
They  have  as  their  minister  here  a  somewhat  remarkable  man, 
who  studied  Latin  while  driving  an  ox  team  as  a  youngster, 
and  later  in  life  acquired  some  knowledge  of  German,  French, 
and  Swedish  while  laboring  successively  as  seed -gardener, 
tailor,  and  shoemaker.  His  mild  face  and  gentle  manners 
pleased  me  very  much ;  and  I  was  not  surprised  to  find  him  a 
man  greatly  beloved  in  other  societies  as  well  as  at  South 
Union.  Nevertheless  his  example  does  not  appear  to  have 


2io     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

been  catching,  for  I  was  told  that  they  have  no  library.  They 
read  a  number  of  newspapers,  but  the  average  of  culture  is  low. 

They  have  no  baths ;  have  lately  bought  a  piano,  and  had  a 
brother  from  Canterbury  to  instruct  some  of  the  sisters  in 
music.  The  singing  was  not  so  good  as  I  have  heard  else- 
where among  the  Shakers.  They  have  a  school  during  five 
months  of  the  year ;  and  they  like  to  take  children — "  would 
rather  have  bad  ones  than  none."  They  have  brought  children 
from  New  Orleans  and  from  Memphis  after  an  epidemic 
which  had  left  many  orphans.  The  young  people  "  do  tolera- 
bly well." 

The  founders  of  this  society  were  "New-Light  Presbyteri- 
ans ;"  since  then  they  have  been  reinforced  by  "  Infidels,"  Spir- 
itualists, Methodists,  and  others. 

It  is  certainly  to  their  credit  that,  living  in  a  slave  state,  and 
having  up  to  the  outbreak  of  the  war  a  great  part  of  their 
business  with  the  states  farther  south,  these  Shakers  were  al- 
ways anti- slavery  and  Union  people.  Formerly  they  hired 
negro  laborers  from  their  masters,  which,  I  suppose,  kept  the 
masters  quiet ;  it  did  not  surprise  rne  to  hear  that  they  always 
had  their  choice  of  the  slave  population  near  them.  A  negro 
knew  that  he  would  nowhere  be  treated  so  kindly  as  among  the 
Shakers.  During  the  war  they  suffered  considerable  losses. 
A  saw-mill  and  grist-mill,  with  all  their  contents,  were  burned, 
causing  a  loss  of  seventy-five  thousand  dollars.  They  fed  the 
troops  of  both  sides,  and  told  me  that  they  served  at  least  fifty 
thousand  meals  to  Union  and  Confederate  soldiers  alike. 
There  was  guerrilla  fighting  on  their  own  grounds,  and  a  soldier 
was  shot  near  the  Church  dwelling.  "  The  war  cost  us  over 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars,"  said  one  of  the  elders ;  and  be- 
sides this  they  lost  money  by  bad  debts  in  the  Southern  States. 
Since  the  war  they  lost  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  in  bonds, 
which,  deposited  in  a  bank,  were  stolen  by  one  of  its  officers ; 
but  the  greater  part  of  this  they  hope  to  recover. 


The  Shakers.  211 


Like  all  the  Shakers,  they  are  long -lived.  A  man  was 
pointed  out  to  me,  now  eighty-seven  years  of  age,  who  plowed 
and  mowed  last  summer;  two  revolutionary  soldiers  died  in 
the  society  aged  ninety-three  and  ninety-four;  one  member 
died  at  ninety-seven ;  and  they  have  now  people  aged  eighty  - 
seven,  eighty-five,  eighty-two,  eighty,  and  so  on. 

During  "  meeting  "  on  Sunday  I  saw  the  children,  many  of 
them  small,  and  all  clean  and  neat,  and  looking  happy  in  their 
prim  way.  They  came  in,  as  usual,  the  boys  by  one  door,  the 
girls  by  another,  each  side  with  its  care-taker ;  and  took  part 
in  the  marching,  kneeling,  and  other  forms  of  the  Shaker  wor- 
ship. After  the  war,  the  South  Union  elders  sought  out  twen- 
ty orphans  in  Tennessee,  whom  they  adopted.  Last  fall,  when 
Memphis  suffered  so  terribly  from  yellow  fever,  they  tried  to 
get  fifty  children  from  there,  but  were  unsuccessful.  Consider- 
ing the  small  number  who  stay  with  them  after  they  are  grown 
up,  this  charity  is  surely  admirable.  And  though  the  educa- 
tion which  children  receive  among  the  Shaker  people  is  limit- 
ed, the  training  they  get  in  cleanliness,  orderly  habits,  and  mor- 
als is  undoubtedly  valuable,  and  better  than  such  orphans 
would  receive  in  the  majority  of  cases  among  the  world's  peo- 
ple. K~or  must  it  be  forgotten  that  the  Shakers  still,  with 
great  good  sense,  teach  each  boy  and  girl  a  trade,  so  as  to  fit 
them  for  earning  a  living. 

Pleasant  Hill. 

The  Pleasant  Hill  Society  lies  in  Mercer  County,  seven  miles 
from  Harrodsburg,  on  the  stage  road  to  Nicholasville,  and 
near  the  Kentucky  River,  which  here  presents  some  grand  and 
magnificent  scenery,  deserving  to  be  better  known. 

They  have  a  fine  estate  of  rich  land,  lying  in  the  midst  of 
the  famous  blue-grass  region  of  Kentucky.  It  consists  of  four 
thousand  two  hundred  acres,  all  in  one  body.  They  have  five 
families ;  but  the  three  Church  families  have  their  property  in 


2 1 2     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

common.  In  1820  they  had  eight  families,  and  between  1820 
and  1825  they  had  about  four  hundred  and  ninety  members. 
At  present  the  society  numbers  two  hundred  and  forty-five  per- 
sons, of  whom  seventy-five  are  children  or  youth  under  twenty- 
one.  About  one  third  are  males  and  two  thirds  females. 

Pleasant  Hill  was  founded  in  1805,  and  "gathered  into  so- 
ciety order  "  in  1809  ;  at  which  time  community  of  goods  was 
established. 

The  members  are  mostly  Americans,  but  they  have  in  one 
family  a  good  many  Swedes.  These  are  the  remnant  of  a 
large  number  whom  the  society  brought  out  a  number  of  years 
ago  at  its  own  expense,  in  the  hope  that  they  would  become 
good  Shakers.  The  experiment  was  not  successful.  They 
have  also  two  colored  members,  and  some  English.  They 
have  among  them  people  who  were  Baptists,  Methodists,  Ad- 
ventists,  and  Presbyterians.  A  considerable  number  of  the 
people,  however,  have  grown  up  in  the  society,  having  come  in 
as  children  of  the  founders;  and  one  old  lady  told  me  she  was 
born  in  the  society,  her  parents  having  entered  three  months 
before  she  came  into  the  world. 

They  eat  meat,  but  no  pork ;  use  tea  and  coffee,  and  tobacco, 
but  "not  much;"  have  baths  in  all  the  families;  have  no  li- 
brary, except  of  their  own  publications,  of  which  copies  are  put 
into  every  room,  and  a  good  supply  is  on  hand,  especially  of 
the  "  Sacred  Roll  and  Book,"  and  the  "  Divine  Book  of  Holy 
Wisdom,"  which  appear  to  be  more  read  here  than  elsewhere. 
They  have  no  musical  instruments,  but  mean  to  get  an  organ 
"to  help  the  singing."  They  receive  twenty  newspapers  of 
different  kinds ;  and  they  are  Spiritualists. 

The  buildings  at  Pleasant  Hill  are  remarkably  good.  The 
dwellings  have  high  ceilings,  and  large,  airy  rooms,  well  fitted 
and  very  comfortably  furnished,  as  are  most  of  the  Shaker 
houses.  Most  of  the  buildings  are  of  stone  or  brick,  and  the 
stone  houses  in  particular  are  well  built.  In  most  of  the  dwell- 


The  Shakers.  213 


ings  I  found  two  doorways,  for  the  different  sexes,  as  well  as 
two  staircases  within.  The  walks  connecting  the  buildings  are 
here,  as  at  South  Union,  Union  Village,  and  elsewhere,  laid 
with  flagging-stones — but  so  narrow  that  two  persons  can  not 
walk  abreast. 

Agriculture,  the  raising  of  fine  stock,  and  preserving  fruit  in 
summer  are  the  principal  industries  pursued  at  Pleasant  Hill 
for  income.  The)7  make  some  brooms  also,  and  in  one  of  the 
families  they  put  up  garden  seeds.  They  have,  however,  very 
complete  shops  of  all  kinds  for  their  own  use,  as  well  as  a  saw 
and  grist  mill,  and  even  a  woolen-mill  where  they  make  their 
own  cloth.  Formerly  they  had  also  a  hatter's  shop;  and  in 
the  early  days  they  labored  in  all  their  shops  for  the  public, 
and  kept  besides  a  carding  and  fulling  mill,  a  linseed-oil  mill, 
as  well  as  factories  of  coopers'  ware,  brooms,  shoes,  dry  meas- 
ures, etc.  At  present  their  numbers  are  inadequate  to  carry 
on  manufactures,  and  their  wealth  makes  it  unnecessary.  They 
let  &  good  deal  of  their  land,  the  renters  paying  half  the  crop ; 
and  they  employ  besides  fifteen  or  twenty  hired  hands,  who 
are  mostly  negroes. 

Hired  laborers  among  the  Shakers  are  usually,  or  always  so 
far  as  I  know,  boarded  at  the  "  office,"  the  house  of  the  trustees ; 
and  this  often  makes  a  good  deal  of  hard  work  for  the  sisters 
who  do  the  cooking  there.  At  Pleasant  Hill  they  had  two  col- 
ored women  and  a  little  boy  in  the  "  office  "  kitchen,  hired  to 
help  the  sisters ;  and  this  is  the  only  place  where  I  saw  this  done. 

The}-  have  a  school  for  the  children,  which  is  kept  during 
five  months  of  the  year.  They  do  not  like  to  take  children 
without  their  parents ;  and  very  few  of  those  they  take  remain 
in  the  society  after  they  are  grown  up.  They  are  troubled  also 
with  "  winter  Shakers,"  whom  they  take  "for  conscience'  sake." 
if  they  show  even  very  little  of  the  Shaker  spirit,  hoping  to  do 
them  good.  They  were  Union  people  during  the  war,  and  a 
few  of  their  young  men  entered  the  army,  and  some  of  these 


2 1 4     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

returned  after  the  war  ended,  and  were  reinstated  in  the  soci- 
ety after  examination  and  confession  of  their  sins.  During 
the  war  both  armies  foraged  upon  them,  taking  their  horses 
and  wagons;  and  they  served  thousands  of  meals  to  hungry 
soldiers  of  both  sides.  Their  estate  lies  but  a  few  miles  from 
the  field  of  the  great  battle  of  Perryville,  and  this  region  was 
for  a  while  the  scene  of  military  operations,  though  not  to  so 
great  an  extent  as  the  country  about  South  Union.  The  Con- 
federate general  John  Morgan,  who  was  born  near  here,  al- 
ways protected  them  against  his  own  troops,  and  they  spoke 
feelingly  of  his  care  for  them. 

This  society  has  no  debt,  and  has  never  suffered  from  a  de- 
falcation or  breach  of  trust.  Some  years  ago  they  lost  nearly 
ten  thousand  dollars  from  the  carelessness  of  an  aged  trustee. 

They  are  long-lived,  many  of  their  members  having  lived  to 
past  ninety.  They  have  one  now  aged  ninety-eight  years. 


SHAKER  LITERATURE,  SPIRITUALISM,  ETC. 

"  It  should  be  distinctly  understood  that  special  inspired  gifts 
have  not  ceased,  but  still  continue  among  this  people:"  so 
reads  a  brief  note  to  the  Preface  of  "  Christ's  First  and  Second 
Appearing,"  the  edition  of  1854. 

In  the  "  Testimonies  concerning  the  Character  and  Ministry 
of  Mother  Ann  Lee,"  a  considerable  number  of  her  followers 
who  had  known  her  personally,  being  her  contemporaries,  re- 
late particulars  of  her  teaching  and  conduct,  and  not  a  few 
give  instances  of  so-called  miraculous  cures  of  diseases  or  in- 
juries, performed  by  her  upon  themselves  or  others. 

The  hymns  or  "spiritual  songs"  they  sing  are  said  by  the 
Shakers  to  be  brought  to  them,  almost  without  exception,  from 
the  "spirit-land;"  and  the  airs  to  which  these  songs  are  sung 
are  believed  to  corne  from  the  same  source.  There  are,  how- 


A    bHAKElt   SCHOOL. 


SHAKER    MUSIC-HALL. 


The  Shakers.  215 


ever,  two  collections  of  Hymns,  to  most  of  whose  contents  this 
origin  is  not  attributed,  though  even  in  these  some  of  the 
hymns  purport  to  have  been  "given  by  inspiration."  In  the 
older  of  these  collections,  "  A  Selection  of  Hymns  and  Poems 
for  the  Use  of  Believers,"  printed  at  Watervliet,  in  Ohio,  1833, 
one  can  trace  some  of  the  earlier  trials  of  the  societies,  and 
the  evils  they  had  to  contend  with  within  themselves.  The 
Western  societies,  for  instance,  appear  to  have  early  opposed 
the  drinking  of  intoxicating  beverages.  Here  is  a  rhyme, 
dated  1817,  which  appeals  to  the  members  in  the  cause  of 
total  abstinence : 

"From  all  intoxicating  drink 

Ancient  Believers  did  abstain; 
Then  say,  good  brethren,  do  you  think 
That  such  a  cross  was  all  in  vain? 

"Inebriation,  we  allow, 

First  paved  the  way  for  am'rous  deeds; 
Then  why  should  poisonous  spirits  now 
Be  ranked  among  our  common  needs? 

'•As  an  apothecary  drug, 

Its  wondrous  virtues  some  will  plead; 
And  hence  we  find  the  stupid  Slug 
A  morning  dram  does  often  need. 

*'  Fatigue  or  want  of  appetite 

At  noon  will  crave  a  little  more, 
And  so  the  same  complaints  at  night 
Are  just  as  urgent  as  before. 

u  By  want  of  sleep,  and  this  and  that, 

His  thirst  for  liquor  is  increased; 
Till  he  becomes  a  bloated  sot — 
The  very  scarlet-colored  beast. 

"Why,  then,  should  any  soul  insist 

On  such  pernicious,  pois'nous  stuff? 
Malignant  spirits,  you're  dismissed ! 
You  have  possessed  us  long  enough." 


216     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

As  a  note  to  this  temperance  rhyme,  stands  the  follow- 
ing: 

"  CH.  RULE. — All  spirituous  liquors  should  be  kept  under  care  of  the 
nurses,  that  no  drams  in  any  case  whatever  should  be  dispensed  to  per- 
sons in  common  health,  and  that  frivolous  excuses  of  being  unwell  should 
not  be  admitted.  Union  Village,  1826." 

"  Slug,"  in  the  third  of  the  preceding  verses,  seems  to  have 
been  a  cant  term  among  the  early  Shakers  for  a  sluggard  and 
selfish  fellow,  a  kind  of  creature  they  have  pretty  thoroughly 
extirpated ;  and  presumably  by  such  free  speech  as  is  used  in 
the  following  amusing  rhymes : 

"  The  depth  of  language  I  have  dug 
To  show  the  meaning  of  a  Slug ; 
And  must  conclude,  upon  the  whole, 
It  means  a  stupid,  lifeless  soul, 
Whose  object  is  to -.live  at  ease, 
And  his  own  carnal  nature  please ; 
Who  always  has  some  selfish  quirk, 
In  sleeping,  eating,  and  at  work. 

"A  lazy  fellow  it  implies, 
Who  in  the  morning  hates  to  rise  ; 
When  all  the  rest  are  up  at  four, 
He  wants  to  sleep  a  little  more. 
When  others  into  meeting  swarm, 
He  keeps  his  nest  so  good  and  warm, 
That  sometimes  when  the  sisters  come 
To  make  the  beds  and  sweep  the  room, 
Who  do  they  find  wrapVl  up  so  snug? 
Ah!  who  is  it  but  Mr.  Slug. 

"A  little  cold  or  aching  head 
Will  send  him  grunting  to  his  bed, 
And  he1!!  pretend  he's  sick  or  sore, 
Just  that  he  may  indulge  the  more. 
Nor  would  it  feel  much  like  a  crime 
If  he  should  sleep  one  half  his  time. 


The  Shakers. 


217 


"When  he  gets  up,  before  he's  dress'd 
He's  so  fatigued  he  has  to  rest; 
And  half  an  hour  he'll  keep  his  chair 
Before  he  takes  the  morning  air. 
He'll  sit  and  smoke  in  calm  repose 
Until  the  trump  for  breakfast  blows — 
His  breakfast-time  at  length  is  past, 
And  he  must  wait  another  blast; 
So  at  the  sound  of  the  last  shell, 
He  takes  his  seat  and  all  is  well." 

"  Slug  "  at  the  table  is  thus  satirized : 

"To  save  his  credit,  you  must  know 
That  poor  old  Slug  eats  very  slow ; 
And  as  in  justice  he  does  hate 
That  all  the  rest  on  him  should  wait, 
Sometimes  he  has  to  rise  and  kneel 
Before  he  has  made  out  his  meal. 
Then  to  make  up  what  he  has  miss'd, 
He  takes  a  luncheon  in  his  fist, 
Or  turns  again  unto  the  dish, 
And  fully  satisfies  his  wish ; 
Or,  if  it  will  not  answer  then, 
He'll  make  it  up  at  half-past  ten. 

"Again  he  thinks  it  quite  too  soon 
To  eat  his  dinner  all  at  noon, 
But  as  the  feast  is  always  free, 
He  takes  a  snack  at  half-past  three. 
He  goes  to  supper  with  the  rest, 
But,  lest  his  stomach  be  oppress'd, 
He  saves  at  least  a  piece  of  bread 
Till  just  before  he  goes  to  bed ; 
So  last  of  all  the  wretched  Slug 
Has  room  to  drive  another  plug. 

"  To  fam'ly  order  he's  not  bound, 
But  has  his  springs  of  union  round ; 
And  kitchen  sisters  ev'ry  where 
Know  how  to  please  him  to  a  hair : 

Q 


2 1 8     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Sometimes  his  errand  they  can  guess, 
If  not,  he  can  his  wants  express ; 
Nor  from  old  Slug  can  they  get  free 
Without  a  cake  or  dish  of  tea." 

"  Slug"  at  work,  or  pretending  to  work,  gets  a  fling  also : 

"When  call'd  to  work  you'll  always  find 
The  lazy  fellow  lags  behind — 
He  has  to  smoke  or  end  his  chat, 
Or  tie  his  shoes,  or  hunt  his  hat: 
So  all  the  rest  are  busy  found 
Before  old  Slug  gets  on  the  ground; 
Then  he  must  stand  and  take  his  wind 
Before  he's  ready  to  begin, 
And  ev'ry  time  he  straights  his  back 
He's  sure  to  have  some  useless  clack; 
And  tho'  all  others  hatfi  the  Slug, 
With  folded  arms  himself  he'll  hug. 

"When  he  conceits  meal-time  is  near, 
He  listens  oft  the  trump  to  hear; 
And  when  it  sounds,  it  is  his  rule 
The  first  of  all  to  drop  his  tool; 
And  if  he's  brisk  in  any  case, 
It  will  be  in  his  homeward  pace." 

Here,  too,  is  a  picture  of  "  Slug  "  shirking  his  religious  duties : 

"In  his  devotions  he  is  Ivnown 
To  be  the  same  poor  lazy  drone : 
The  sweetest  songs  Believers  find 
Make  no  impression  on  his  mind; 
And  round  the  fire  he'd  rather  nod 
Than  labor  in  the  works  of  God. 

"Some  vain  excuse  he'll  often  plead 
That  he  from  worship  may  be  freed — 
He's  bruis'd  his  heel  or  stump'd  his  toe, 
And  can  not  into  meeting  go; 
And  if  he  comes  he's  half  asleep, 
That  no  good  fruit  from  him  we  reap: 


The  Shakers.  219 


He'll  labor  out  a  song  or  two, 
And  so  conclude  that  that  will  do; 
[And,  lest  through  weariness  he  fall, 
He'll  brace  himself  against  the  wall], 
And  well  the  faithM  may  give  thanks 
That  poor  old  Slug  has  quit  the  ranks. 

"When  the  spectators  are  address1  d, 
Then  is  the  time  for  Slug  to  rest — 
From  his  high  lot  he  can't  be  hurl'd, 
To  feel  toward  the  wicked  world; 
So  he  will  sit  with  closed  eyes 
Until  the  congregation  rise; 
And  when  the  labor  we  commence, 
He  moves  with  such  a  stupid  sense — 
It  often  makes  spectators  stare 
To  see  so  dead  a  creature  there." 

The  satire  closes  with  a  hit  at  "  Slug's  "  devotion  to  tobacco 

"Men  of  sound  reason  use  their  pipes 
For  colics,  pains,  and  windy  gripes; 
And  smoking's  useful,  we  will  own, 
To  give  the  nerves  and  fluids  tone; 
But  poor  old  Slug  has  to  confess 
He  uses  it  to  great  excess, 
And  will  indulge  his  appetite 
Beyond  his  reason  and  his  light. 
If  others  round  him  do  abstain, 
It  keeps  him  all  the  time  in  pain; 
And  if  a  sentence  should  be  spoke 
Against  his  much-beloved  smoke, 
Tho'  it  be  in  the  way  of  joke, 
He  thinks  his  union's  almost  broke. 
In  all  such  things  he's  at  a  loss, 
Because  he  thinks  not  of  the  cross, 
But  yields  himself  a  willing  slave 
To  what  his  meaner  passions  crave. 

"This  stupid  soul  in  all  his  drift 
Is  still  behind  the  proper  gift — 


2  2O     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

With  other  souls  he  don't  unite, 
Nor  is  he  zealous  to  do  right. 
Among  Believers  he's  a  drug, 
And  ev'ry  elder  hates  a  Slug. 
"When  long  forbearance  is  the  theme, 
A  warm  believer  he  would  seem — 
For  diff'rent  tastes  give  gen'rous  scope, 
And  he  is  full  of  faith  and  hope ; 
But  talk  about  some  good  church  rule, 
And  his  high  zeal  you'll  quickly  cool. 
Indulge  him,  then,  in  what  is  wrong, 
And  Slug  will  try  to  move  along; 
Nor  will  he  his  own  state  mistrust, 
Until  he  gets  so  full  of  lust 
His  cross  he  will  no  longer  tug, 
Then  to  the  world  goes  poor  old  Slug." 

"Hoggish  nature"  comes  in  for  a  share  of  denunciation 
next  in  these  lines : 

"  In  the  increasing  work  of  the  gospel  we  find, 
The  old  hoggish  nature  we  will  have  to  bind — 
To  starve  the  old  glutton,  and  leave  him  to  shift, 
Till  in  union  with  heaven  we  eat  in  a  gift. 

"What  Father  will  teach  me,  I'll  truly  obey; 
I'll  keep  Mother's  counsel,  and  not  go  astray; 
Then  plagues  and  distempers  they  will  have  to  cease, 
In  all  that  live  up  to  the  gospel's  increase. 

"The  glutton's  a  seat  in  which  evil  can  work, 
And  in  hoggish  nature  diseases  will  lurk : 
By  faith  and  good  works  we  can  all  overcome, 
And  starve  the  old  glutton  until  he  is  done. 

"But  while  he  continues  to  guzzle  and  eat, 
All  kinds  of  distempers  will  still  find  a  seat — 
The  plagues  of  old  Egypt— the  scab  and  the  bile, 
At  which  wicked  spirits  and  devils  will  smile. 

"  Now  some  can  despise  the  good  porridge  and  soup, 
And  by  the  old  glutton  they  surely  are  dup'd — 
f^ip3  To  eat  seven  times  in  a  day !  what  a  mess ! 
I  hate  the  old  glutton  for  his  hoggishness. 


The  Shakers.  2  2 1 


"No  wonder  that  plagues  and  distempers  abound, 
While  there  is  a  glutton  in  camp  to  be  found, 
To  spurn  at  the  counsel  kind  Heaven  did  give — 
And  guzzle  up  all,  and  have  nothing  to  save. 

"When  glutton  goes  in  and  sits  down  with  the  rest, 
His  hoggish  old  nature  it  grabs  for  the  best — 
The  cake  and  the  custard,  the  crull  and  the  pie — 
He  cares  not  for  others,  but  takes  care  of  I. 

"  His  stomach  is  weak,  being  gorg'd  on  the  best, 
He  has  had  sev'ral  pieces  secret  from  the  rest; 
He'll  fold  up  his  arms,  at  the  rest  he  will  look, 
Because  they  do  eat  the  good  porridge  and  soup. 

"Now  all  that  are  wise  they  will  never  be  dup'd; 
They'll  feed  the  old  glutton  on  porridge  and  soup, 
Until  he  is  willing  to  eat  like  the  rest, 
And  not  hunt  the  kitchen  to  find  out  the  best. 

"  We'll  strictly  observe  what  our  good  parents  teach : 
Not  pull  the  green  apple,  nor  hog*  in  the  peach ; 
We'll  starve  the  old  glutton,  and  send  him  adrift; 
Then  like  good  Believers  we'll  eat  in  a  gift." 

Following  these  verses  are  some  reflections,  concluding : 

"Away  with  the  sluggard,  the  glutton,  and  beast, 

For  none  but  the  bee  and  the  dove 
Can  truly  partake  of  this  heavenly  feast, 
Which  springs  from  the  fountains  of  love." 

Obedience  to  the  elders  and  ministry  also  appears  to  have 
been  difficult  to  bring  about,  for  several  verses  in  this  collection 
inculcate  this  duty.  In  one,  called  "  Gospel-virtues  illustra- 
ted," an  old  man  is  made  the  speaker,  in  these  words : 

"Now  eighteen  hundred  seventeen — 
Where  am  I  now?  where  have  I  been? 
My  age  about  threescore  and  three, 
Then  surely  thankful  I  will  be. 

*  To  eat  like  a  hog. 


222     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"I  thank  my  parents  for  my  home, 
I  thank  good  Elder  Solomon, 
I  thank  kind  Eldress  Hortency, 
And  Eldress  Rachel  kind  and  free. 

"  Good  Elder  Peter  with  the  rest- 
By  his  good  works  we  all  are  blest ; 
His  righteous  works  are  plainly  shown — 
I  thank  him  kindly  for  my  home. 

"  From  the  beginning  of  this  year, 
A  faithful  cross  I  mean  to  bear, 
To  ev'ry  order  I'll  subject, 
And  all  my  teachers  I'll  respect. 

"  With  ev'ry  gift  I  will  unite— 
They  are  all  good  and  just  and  right ; 
If  mortifying  they  do  come, 
I'll  still  be  thankful  for  my  home. 

"  When  I'm  chastis'd  I'll  not  complain, 
Tho'  my  old  nature  suffer  pain; 
Tho'  it  should  come  so  sharp  and  hot, 
Even  to  slay  me  on  the  spot. 

"I  will  no  longer  use  deceit, 
I  will  abhor  the  hypocrite ; 
His  forged  lies  I  now  will  hate — 
His  portion  is  the  burning  lake. 

"My  vile  affections  they  shall  die, 
And  ev'ry  lust  I'll  crucify; 
I'll-  labor  to  be  clean  and  pure, 
And  to  the  end  I  will  endure. 

"  Th'  adulterous  eye  shall  now  be  blind — 
It  shall  not  feed  the  carnal  mind; 
My  looks  and  conduct  shall  express 
That  holy  faith  that  I  possess. 

"I  will  not  murmur,  'tis  not  right, 
About  my  clothing  or  my  diet, 
For  surely  those  who  have  the  care, 
Will  give  to  each  their  equal  share. 


The  Shakers.  223 


"I  will  take  care  and  not  dictate 
The  fashion  of  my  coat  or  hat; 
But  meet  the  gift  as  it  may  come, 
And  still  be  thankful  for  my  home. 

"I  will  be  careful  and  not  waste 
That  which  is  good  for  man  or  beast; 
Or  any  thing  that  we  do  use — 
No  horse  or  ox  will  I  abuse. 

*4i  will  be  simple  as  a  child; 
I'll  labor  to  be  meek  and  mild; 
In  this  good  work  my  time  I'll  spend, 
And  with  my  tongue  I'll  not  offend." 

Again,  in  "  Repentance  and  Confession,"  a  sinner  confesses 
his  misdeeds  in  such  words  as  these : 

"But  still  there's  more  crowds  on  my  mind 

And  blacker  than  the  rest — 
They  look  more  dark  and  greater  crimes 

Than  all  that  I've  confessed 
With  tattling  tongues  and  lying  lips 

I've  often  bore  a  part: 
I  frankly  own  I've  made  some  slips 
To  give  a  lie  a  start. 

"  But  worse  than  that  I've  tri'd  to  do, 

When  darken'd  in  my  mind; 
I've  tri'd  to  be  a  Deist  too — 

That  nothing  was  divine. 
But  O,  good  elders,  pray  for  me ! 

The  worst  is  yet  behind — 
I've  talk'd  against  the  ministry, 

With  malice  in  my  mind. 
"  O  Lord  forgive !  for  mercy's  sake, 

And  leave  me  not  behind; 
For  surely  I  was  not  awake, 

Else  I  had  been  consign'd. 
Good  ministry,  can  you  forgive, 

And  elders  one  and  all? 
And,  brethren,  may  I  with  you  live, 

And  be  the  least  of  aU  ?" 


224     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

In  "A  Solemn  Warning"  there  is  a  caution  against  the 
wiles  of  Satan,  who  tries  Believers  with  a  spirit  of  discontent : 

"This  cunning  deceiver  can't  touch  a  Believer, 

Unless  he  can  get  them  first  tempted  to  taste 
Some  carnal  affection,  or  fleshly  connection, 
And  little  by  little  their  power  to  waste. 
The  first  thing  is  blinding,  before  undermining, 

Or  else  the  discerning  would  shun  the  vile  snare; — 
Thus  Satan  hath  frosted  and  artfully  blasted 
•  Some  beautiful  blossoms  that  promis'd  most  fair. 

"  This  wily  soul-taker  and  final  peace-breaker 

May  take  the  unwary  before  they  suspect, 
And  get  them  to  hearken  to  that  which  will  darken, 

And  next  will  induce  them  their  faith  to  reject; 
He'll  tell  you  subjection  affords  no  protection — 

These  things  you've  been  tau't  are  but  notions  at  best; 
Reject  your  protection,  and  break  your  connection, 

And  all  you  call'd  faith  you  may  scorn  and  detest." 

"  The  Last  Woe "  denounces  various  sins  of  the  congrega« 
tion: 

"In  your  actions  unclean,  you  are  openly  seen, 

And  this  truth  you  may  ever  remark, 
That  in  anguish  and  woe,  to  the  saints  you  must  go, 
And  confess  what  you've  done  in  the  dark. 

"  From  restraint  you  are  free,  and  no  danger  you  see, 

Till  the  sound  of  the  trumpet  comes  in, 
Crying  *  Woe  to  your  lust — it  must  go  to  the  dust, 
With  the  unfruitful  pleasures  of  sin.' 

"And  a  woe  to  the  liar — he  is  doom'd  to  the  fire, 

Until  all  his  dark  lies  are  confess' d — 
Till  he  honestly  tell,  what  a  spirit  from  hell 
Had  its  impious  seat  in  his  breast. 

"  And  a  woe  to  the  thief,  without  any  relief- 
He  is  sentenc'd  in  body  and  soul, 
To  confess  with  his  tongue,  and  restore  ev'ry  wrong, 
What  he  ever  has  robbed  or  stole. 


The  Shakers. 


225 


"  Tho'  the  sinner  may  plead,  that  it  was  not  decreed 

For  a  man  to  take  up  a  full  cross, 
Yet  in  hell  he  must  bum,  or  repent  and  return, 
And  be  sav'd  from  the  nature  of  loss." 

In  the  following  "  Dialogue  "  "  confession  of  sins  "  is  urged 
and  enforced : 

"  Q.  Why  did  you  choose  this  way  you're    in,  which    all  mankind 

despise  ? 
A,  It  was  to  save  my  soul  from  sin,  and  gain  a  heav'nly  prize. 

Q.  But  could  you  find  no  other  way,  that  would  have  done  as  well  ? 
A.  Nay,  any  other  way  but  this  would  lead  me  down  to  hell. 

Q.  Well,  tell  me  how  did  you  begin  to  purge  away  your  dross? 
A.  By  honestly  confessing  sin,  and  taking  up  my  cross. 

Q.  Was  it  before  the  Son  of  man  you  brought  your  deeds  to  light  ? 
A.  That  was  the  mortifying  plan,  and  surely  it  was  right. 

Q.  But  did  you  not  keep  something  back,  or  did  you  tell  the  whole  ? 
A.  I  told  it  all,  however  black — I  fully  freed  my  soul. 

Q.  Do  you  expect  to  persevere,  and  ev'ry  evil  shun? 

A.  My  daily  cross  I  mean  to  bear,  until  the  work  is  done. 

Q.  Well,  is  it  now  your  full  intent  all  damage  to  restore  ? 
A.  If  any  man  I've  wrong'd  a  cent,  I'll  freely  give  him  four. 

Q.  And  what  is  now  the  greatest  foe  with  which  you  mean  to  war? 
A.  The  cursed  flesh — 'tis  that,  you  know,  all  faithful  souls  abhor. 

Q.  Have  you  none  of  its  sly  deceit  now  lurking  in  your  breast  ? 
A.  I  say  there's  nothing  on  my  mind  but  what  I  have  confess' d. 

Q.  Well,  what  you  have  proclaim'd  abroad,  if  by  your  works  you  show, 
You  are  prepar'd  to  worship  God,  so,  at,  it,  you,  may,  go." 

"  The  Steamboat "  seems  to  me  a  characteristic  rhyme,  which 
no  doubt  came  home  to  Believers  on  the  western  rivers,  when 
they  were  plagued  with  doubters  and  cold-hearted  adherents : 

"While  our  steamboat,  Self-denial, 
Rushes  up  against  the  stream, 
Is  it  not  a  serious  trial 

Of  the  pow'r  of  gospel  steam  ? 


226     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

When  Self-will,  and  Carnal  Pleasure, 

And  Freethinker,  all  afloat, 
Come  down  snorting  with  such  pressure. 

Right  against  our  little  boat. 

"  Were  there  not  some  carnal  creatures 

Mixed  with  the  pure  and  clean, 
When  we  meet  those  gospel-haters, 

We  might  pass  and  not  be  seen; 
But  the  smell  of  kindred  senses 

Brings  them  on  us  fair  broadside, 
Then  the  grappling  work  commences — 

They  must  have  a  fair  divide. 

"  All  who  choose  the  tide  of  nature, 

Freely  take  the  downward  way; 
But  the  doubtful  hesitater 

Dare  not  go,  yet  hates  to  stay. 
To  the  flesh  still  claiming  kindred, 

And  their  faith  still  hanging  to — 
Thus  we're  held  and  basely  hindered, 

By  a  double-minded  few. 

"  Wretched  souls,  while  hesitating 

Where  to  fix  your  final  claim, 
Don't  you  see  our  boiler  heating, 

With  a  more  effectual  flame ! — 
When  the  steam  comes  on  like  thunder, 

And  the  wheels  begin  to  play, 
Must  you  not  be  torn  asunder, 

And  swept  off  the  downward  way  ? 

"Tho'  Self-will  and  Carnal  Reason, 

Independence,  Lust,  and  Pride, 
May  retard  us  for  a  season, 

Saint  and  sinner  must  divide; 
When  releas'd  from  useless  lumber — 

When  the  fleshly  crew  is  gone — 
With  our  little  faithful  number, 

O  how  swiftly  we'll  move  on !" 

The  "  Covenant  Hymn  "  was  publicly  sung  in  some  of  the 
Western  societies, "  so  that  no  room  was  left  for  any  to  say 


The  Shakers.  227 


that  the  Covenant  [by  which  they  agree  to  give  up  all  property 
and  labor  for  the  general  use]  was  not  well  understood."  I 
quote  here  several  verses : 

u  You  have  parents  in  the  Lord,  you  honor  and  esteem, 
But  your  equals  to  regard  a  greater  cross  may  seem. 
Where  the  gift  of  God  you  see, 
Can  you  consent  that  it  should  reign? 
Yea  I  can,  and  all  that's  free  may  jointly  say — Amen. 

"  Can  you  part  with  all  you've  got,  and  give  up  all  concern, 
And  be  faithful  in  your  lot,  the  way  of  God  to  learn  ? 
Can  you  sacrifice  your  ease, 
And  take  your  share  of  toil  and  pain  ? 
Yea  I  can,  and  all  that  please  may  freely  say— Amen. 

"Can  you  into  union  flow,  and  have  your  will  subdu'd? 
Let  your  time  and  talents  go,  to  serve  the  gen'ral  good  ? 
Can  you  swallow  such  a  pill — 
To  count  old  Adam's  loss  your  gain? 
Yea  I  can,  and  yea  I  will,  and  all  may  say — Amen. 

"  I  set  out  to  bear  my  cross,  and  this  I  mean  to  do : 
Let  old  Adam  kick  and  toss,  his  days  will  be  but  few. 
We're  devoted  to  the  Lord, 
And  from  the  flesh  we  will  be  free; 
Then  we'll  say  with  one  accord — Amen,  so  let  it  be." 

It  is  evident  from  these  verses  that  the  early  Shakers  had 
among  them  men  who  at  least  could  make  the  rhymes  run 
glibly,  and  who  besides  had  a  gift  of  plain  speech.  Here,  for 
instance,  is  a  denunciation  of  a  scandal-monger : 

"  In  the  Church  of  Christ  and  Mother, 

Carnal  feelings  have  no  place; 
Here  the  simple  love  each  other. 

Free  from  ev'ry  thing  that's  base. 
Therefore  when  the  flesh  is  named, 
When  impeachments  fly  around, 
Honest  souls  do  feel  ashamed — 
Shudder  at  the  very  sound. 


228     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"Ah!  them  foul  and  filthy  stranger! 
What  canst  thou  be  after  here  ? 
Thou  wilt  find  thyself  in  danger, 

If  thou  dost  not  disappear. 
Vanish  quick,  I  do  advise  you! 

For  we  mean  to  let  you  know 
Good  Believers  do  despise  you, 
As  a  dang'rous,  deadly  foe. 

"  Dare  you,  in  the  sight  of  heaven, 

Show  your  foul  and  filthy  pranks  ? 
Can  a  place  to  you  be  given 

In  the  bright  angelic  ranks? 
Go !  I  say,  thou  unclean  devil ! 

Go  from  this  redeemed  soil, 
If  you  think  you  can  not  travel 

Through  a  lake  of  boiling  oil." 

In  those  earlier  days,  as  in  these,  idle  persons  seern  to  have 
troubled  the  Shakers  with  the  question  "  What  would  be- 
come of  the  world  if  all  turned  Shakers,"  to  which  here  is 
a  sharp  reply : 

"  The  multiplication  of  the  old  creation 

They're  sure  to  hold  forth  as  a  weighty  command ; 
And  what  law  can  hinder  old  Adam  to  gender, 

And  propagate  men  to  replenish  the  land? 
But  truly  he  never  obey'd  the  lawgiver, 

For  when  the  old  serpent  had  open'd  his  eyes, 
He  sought  nothing  greater  than  just  to  please  nature, 

And  work  like  a  serpent  in  human  disguise." 

"  Steeple  houses "  are  as  hateful  to  the  Shakers  as  to  the 
Quakers  and  the  Inspirationists  of  Amana,  and  they  are  ex- 
cluded in  an  especial  manner  from  the  Shakers'  Paradise : 

"No  sin  can  ever  enter  here — 
Nor  sinners  rear  a  steeple; 
'Tis  kept  by  God's  peculiar  care, 
For  his  peculiar  people. 


The  Shakers.  229 


One  faith,  one  union,  and  one  Lord, 

One  int'rest  all  combining, 
Believers  all,  with  one  accord, 

In  heav'nly  concert  joining. 

"Far  as  the  gospel  spirit  reigns, 

Our  souls  are  in  communion; 
From  Alfred  to  South  Union's  plains, 

We  feel  our  love  and  union. 
Here  we  may  walk  in  peace  and  love, 

With  God  and  saints  uniting; 
While  angels,  smiling  from  above, 

To  glory  are  inviting." 

Occasionally  the  book  from  which  I  am  quoting  gives  one 
of  those  lively  brief  verses  to  whicL  the  Shaker  congregation 
marches,  with  clapping  hands  and  skipping  feet ;  as  these,  for 

instance : 

"I  mean  to  be  obedient, 

And  cross  my  ugly  nature, 
And  share  the  blessings  that  are  sent 

To  ev'ry  honest  creature; 
With  ev'ry  gift  I  will  unite, 

And  join  in  sweet  devotion — 
To  worship  God  is  my  delight, 

With  hands  and  feet  in  motion/' 

"  Come,  let  us  all  be  marching  on, 
Into  the  New  Jerusalem; 
The  call  is  now  to  ev'ry  one 
To  be  alive  and  moving. 
This  precious  call  we  will  obey — 
We  love  to  march  the  heav'nly  way, 
And  in  it  we  can  dance  and  play, 
And  feel  our  spirits  living." 

In  the  newer  collection,  entitled  "Millennial  Hymns,  adapt- 
ed to  the  present  Order  of  the  Church,"  and  printed  at  Canter- 
bury, New  Hampshire,  in  1847,  a  change  is  noticeable.  The 
hymns  are  more  devotional  and  less  energetic.  There  are 
many  praises  of  Mother  Ann — such  lines  as  these : 


230     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"  O  Mother,  blest  Mother !    to  thee  I  will  bow ; 
Thou  art  a  kind  Mother,  thou  dost  teach  us  how 
Salvation  is  gained,  and  how  to  increase 
In  purity,  union,  in  order  and  peace. 

"I  love  thee,  O  Mother;  thy  praise  I  will  sound — 
I'll  bless  thee  forever  for  what  I  have  found; 
I'll  praise  and  adore  thee,  to  thee  bow  and  bend, 
For  Mother,  dear  Mother,  thou  art  my  known  friend." 

Or  these : 

"  I  will  walk  in  true  obedience,  I  will  be  a  child  of  love ; 
And  in  low  humiliation  I  will  praise  my  God  above. 
I  will  love  my  blessed  Mother,  and  obey  her  holy  word, 
In  submission  to  my  elders,  this  will  join  me  to  the  Lord. 

"I  will  stand  when  persecution  doth  around  like  billows  roll; 
I  will  bow  in  true  subjection,  and  my  carnal  will  control. 
I  will  stand  a  firm  believer  in  the  way  and  work  of  God, 
Doubts  and  fears  shall  never,  never  in  me  find  a  safe  abode. 

"  When  temptations  do  surround  me,  floods  of  evil  ebb  and  flow, 
Then  in  true  humiliation  I  will  bow  exceeding  low. 
I  will  fear  the  God  of  heaven,  I  will  keep  his  holy  laws, 
Treasure  up  his  blessings  given  in  this  pure  and  holy  cause. 

"  Tho'  beset  by  wicked  spirits,  men  and  devils  all  combin'd, 
Yet  my  Mother's  love  will  save  me  if  in  faithfulness  I  stand: 
No  infernal  crooked  creature  can  destroy  or  harm  my  soul, 
If  I  keep  the  love  of  Mother  and  obey  her  holy  call." 

Or  this  hymn,  which  is  called  "  Parents'  Blessing :" 

"  My  Father  does  love  me,  my  Mother  also 
Does  send  me  her  love,  and  I  now  feel  it  flow ; 
These  heavenly  Parents  are  kind  unto  me, 
And  by  their  directions  my  soul  is  set  free. 

"They  fill  up  my  vessel  with  power  and  strength — 
Yea,  make  my  cross  easy,  my  peace  of  great  length ; 
My  joy  full  and  perfect,  my  trouble  but  light, 
My  gifts  very  many  in  which  I  delight. 


The  Shakers.  231 


"I  truly  feel  thankful  for  what  I  receive, 
In  each  holy  promise  I  surely  believe ; 
They're  able  and  willing  to  do  all  they've  said, 
And  by  my  kind  Parents  I  choose  to  be  led. 

"  I  love  to  feel  simple,  I  love  to  feel  low, 
I  love  to  be  kept  in  the  path  I  should  go; 
I  love  to  be  taught  by  my  heavenly  lead, 
That  I  may  be  holy  and  perfect  indeed." 

I  add  another,  which  has  the  lively,  quick  rhythm  in  which 
the  Shakers  delight.     It  is  called  "  Wisdom's  Path :" 

"I'll  learn  to  walk  in  wisdom's  ways, 
And  in  her  path  I'll  spend  my  days; 
I'll  learn  to  do  what  Mother  says 

And  follow  her  example. 
All  pride  and  lust  this  will  subdue, 
And  every  hateful  passion  too; 
This  will  destroy  old  Satan's  crew 

That's  seated  in  the  temple. 

"  Come,  honest  souls,  let  us  unite 
And  keep  our  conscience  clear  and  white, 
For  surely  Mother  does  delight 

To  own  and  bless  her  children. 
In  Father's  word  let  us  go  on, 
And  bear  our  cross  and  do  no  wrong, 
In  faith  and  love  then  we'll  be  strong 
To  conquer  every  evil. 

"For  love  and  union  is  our  stay, 
We'll  be  strong  and  keep  it  day  by  day; 
Then  we  shall  never  go  astray, 

We'll  gain  more  love  and  union. 
Obedience  will  still  increase, 
And  every  evil  work  will  cease, 
We'll  gain  a  true  and  solid  peace, 
We'll  live  in  Mother's  union." 

I  make  no  excuse  for  these  quotations  of  Shaker  hymns,  for 
the  books  from  which  they  are  taken  have  been  seen  by  very 


232     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

few  outside  of  the  order,  and  not  even  by  all  its  members,  as 
they  are  not  now  in  common  use. 

The  Shakers  have  always  professed  to  have  intimate  inter- 
course with  the  "spirit  world."  Elder  Frederick  Evans  says 
in  his  autobiography  that  from  the  beginning  the  exercises  in 
Shaker  meetings  were  "  singing  and  dancing,  shaking,  turning, 
and  shouting,  speaking  with  new  tongues  and  prophesying" 
Elder  Frederick  himself,  as  he  remarks,  "  was  converted  to 
Shakerism  in  1830  by  spiritual  manifestations,"  having  "  vis- 
ions "  for  three  weeks,  which  converted  him,  as  he  relates,  from 
materialism.  He  adds : 

"In  1837  to  1844  there  was  an  influx  from  the  ( spirit 
world,'  { confirming  the  faith  of  many  disciples'  who  had  lived 
among  Believers  for  years,  and  extending  throughout  all  the 
eighteen  societies,  making  med\a  by  the  dozen,  whose  various 
exercises,  not  to  be  suppressed  even  in  their  public  meetings, 
rendered  it  imperatively  necessary  to  close  them  all  to  the 
world  during  a  period  of  seven  years,  in  consequence  of  the 
then  unprepared  state  of  the  people,  to  which  the  whole  of  the 
manifestations,  and  the  meetings  too,  would  have  been  as  un- 
adulterated '  foolishness,'  or  as  inexplicable  mysteries." 

In  a  recent  number  of  the  ShaJcer  and  Shaker  ess  (1874), 
Elder  James  S.  Prescott,  of  the  North  Union  Society,  gave  a 
curious  account  of  the  first  appearance  of  this  phenomenon  at 
that  place,  from  which  I  quote  what  follows : 

"  It  was  in  the  year  1838,  in  the  latter  part  of  summer,  some  young  sisters 
were  walking  together  on  the  bank  of  the  creek,  not  far  from  the  hem- 
lock grove,  west  of  what  is  called  the  Mill  Family,  where  they  heard  some 
beautiful  singing,  which  seemed  to  be  in  the  air  just  above  their  heads. 

"  They  were  taken  by  surprise,  listened  with  admiration,  and  then  has- 
tened home  to  report  the  phenomenon.  Some  of  them  afterwards  were 
chosen  mediums  for  the  '  spirits.'  We  had  been  informed,  by  letter,  that 
there  was  a  marvelous  work  going  on  in  some  of  the  Eastern  societies,  par- 
ticularly at  Mt.  Lebanon,  New  York,  and  Watervliet,  near  Albany.  And 
when  it  reached  us  in  the  West  we  should  all  know  it,  and  we  did  know  it ; 


The  Shakers. 


233 


in  the  progress  of  the  work,  every  individual,  from  the  least  to  the  great- 
est, did  know  that  there  was  a  heart-searching  God  in  Israel,  who  ruled 
in  the  armies  of  heaven,  and  will  yet  rule  among  the  inhabitants  of  earth. 

"  It  commenced  among  the  little  girls  in  the  children's  order,  who  were 
assembled  in  an  upper  room,  the  doors  being  shut,  holding  a  meeting  by 
themselves,  when  the  invisibles  began  to  make  themselves  known.  It 
was  on  the  Sabbath-day,  while  engaged  in  our  usual  exercises,  that  a 
messenger  came  in  and  informed  the  elders  in  great  haste  that  there  was 
something  uncommon  going  on  in  the  girls'  department.  The  elders 
brought  our  meeting  to  a  close  as  soon  as  circumstances  would  admit, 
and  went  over  to  witness  the  singular  and  strange  phenomena. 

"  When  we  entered  the  apartment,  we  saw  that  the  girls  were  under  the 
influence  of  a  power  not  their  own — they  were  hurried  round  the  room, 
back  and  forth  as  swiftly  as  if  driven  by  the  wind — and  no  one  could 
stop  them.  If  any  attempts  were  made  in  that  direction,  it  was  found 
impossible,  showing  conclusively  that  they  were  under  a  controlling  in- 
fluence that  was  irresistible.  Suddenly  they  were  prostrated  upon  the 
floor,  apparently  unconscious  of  what  was  going  on  around  them.  With 
their  eyes  closed,  muscles  strained,  joints  stiff,  they  were  taken  up  and 
laid  upon  beds,  mattresses,  etc. 

"They  then  began  holding  converse  with  their  guardian  spirits  and 
others,  some  of  whom  they  once  knew  in  the  form,  making  graceful  mo- 
tions with  their  hands — talking  audibly,  so  that  all  in  the  room  could  hear 
and  understand,  and  form  some  idea  of  their  whereabouts  in  the  spiritual 
realms  they  were  exploring  in  the  land  of  souls.  This  was  only  the  be- 
ginning of  a  series  of 4  spirit  manifestations,'  the  most  remarkable  we  ever 
expected  to  witness  on  the  earth.  One  prominent  feature  of  these  mani- 
festations was  the  gift  of  songs,  hymns,  and  anthems — new,  heavenly,  and 
melodious.  The  first  inspired  song  we  ever  heard  from  the  '  spirit  world,' 
with  words  attached,  was  the  following,  sung  by  one  of  the  young  sisters. 
while  in  vision,  with  great  power  and  demonstration  of  the  spirit,  called 

by  the  invisible 

'THE   SONG  OF  A  HERALD. 

'  Prepare,  O  ye  faithful, 

To  fight  the  good  fight; 
Sing,  O  ye  redeemed, 

Who  walk  in  the  light. 
Come  low,  O  ye  haughty, 

Come  down,  and  repent. 
Disperse,  O  ye  naughty, 

Who  will  not  relent. 

R 


234     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

1  For  Mother  is  coming — 

Oh,  hear  the  glad  sound — 
To  comfort  her  children 

Wherever  they're  found ; 
With  jewels  and  robes  of  fine  linen 

To  clothe  the  afflicted  withal.' 

"  Given  by  inspiration,  at  North  Union,  August,  1838,  ten  years  prior 
to  the  '  Rochester  Rappings.' 

"  The  gifts  continued  increasing  among  the  children.  Among  these 
were  the  gift  of  tongues,  visiting  the  different  cities  in  the  '  spirit  world,' 
holding  converse  with  the  indwellers  thereof,  some  of  whom  they  once 
knew  in  the  body.  And  in  going  to  these  cities  they  were  accompanied 
by  their  guardian  angels,  and  appeared  to  be  flying,  using  their  hands 
and  arms  for  wings,  moving  with  as  much  velocity  as  the  wings  of  a 
bird. 

"  All  of  a  sudden  they  stopped,  and  the  following  questions  and  an- 
swers were  uttered  through  their  vocal  organism :  Question — What  city 
is  this  ?  Answer — '  The  City  of  Delight.'  Question — Who  live  here  ? 
Answer — The  colored  population.  Question — Can  we  go  in  and  see  them  ? 
Answer — Certainly.  For  this  purpose  you  were  conducted  here.  They 
were  admitted,  their  countenances  changed.  Question — Who  are  all  these  ? 
Answer — They  are  those  who  were  once  slaves  in  the  United  States. 
Question — Who  are  those  behind  them  ?  Answer — They  are  those  who 
were  once  slaveholders.  Question — What  are  they  doing  here  ?  Answer 
— Serving  the  slaves,  as  the  slaves  served  them  while  in  the  earth  life. 
God  is  just ;  all  wrongs  have  to  be  righted.  Question — Who  are  those 
in  the  corner  ?  Answer — They  are  those  slaveholders  who  were  unmerci- 
ful, and  abused  their  slaves  in  the  world,  and  are  too  proud  to  comply 
with  the  conditions.  Question — What  were  the  conditions  ?  Answer — 
To  make  confession  and  ask  forgiveness  of  the  slaves,  and  right  their 
wrongs ;  and  this  they  are  too  proud  to  do.  Question — What  will  be  done 
with  them  ?  Answer — When  their  time  expires  they  will  be  taken  away 
and  cast  out,  and  will  have  to  suffer  until  they  repent ;  for  all  wrongs 
must  be  righted,  either  in  the  form  or  among  the  disembodied  spirits, 
before  souls  can  be  happy.  And  when  the  girls  came  out  of  vision,  they 
would  relate  the  same  things,  which  corresponded  with  what  they  had 
previously  talked  out. 

"  Now,  we  will  leave  the  girls  for  the  present  and  go  into  the  boys'  de- 
partment. Here  we  find  them  holding  meetings  by  themselves,  under 


The  Shakers.  235 


the  safe  guidance  of  their  care-takers,  going  in  vision,  some  boys  and 
some  girls,  for  the  work  had  progressed  so  as  to  reach  adults,  and  all 
were  called  immediately  into  the  work  whose  physical  organizations 
would  possibly  admit  of  mediumship.  The  peculiar  gift  at  this  time  was 
in  visiting  the  different  cities  in  the  '  spirit  world,'  and  in  renewing  ac- 
quaintances with  many  of  their  departed  friends  and  relatives,  who  were 
the  blissful  and  happy  residents  therein. 

"  But  before  we  go  any  further  we  will  let  our  mediums  describe  the 
first  city  they  came  to  after  crossing  the  river.  Question — What  city  is 
this  ?  Answer — The  Blue  .City.  Question — Who  lives  here  ?  Answer — 
The  Indians.  Question — What  Indians  ?  Answer — The  American  Indians. 
Question — Why  are  they  the  first  city  we  come  to  in  the  spirit-land,  on 
the  plane,  and  most  accessible  ?  Answer — Because  the  Indians  lived 
more  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  nature  in  their  earth  life,  according 
to  their  knowledge,  and  were  the  most  abused  class  by  the  whites  except 
the  slaves,  and  many  of  them  now  are  in  advance  of  the  whites  in  '  spiritu- 
ality,' and  are  the  most  powerful  ministering  spirits  sent  forth  to  minister 
to  those  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation. 

"  At  another  time  these  same  mediums,  fifteen  in  number,  of  both  sexes, 
sitting  on  benches  in  the  meeting-house,  saw  a  band  of  Indian  spirits 
coming  from  the  'Blue  City'  in  the  spirit  world  to  unite  with  them 
in  their  worship,  and  said, '  They  are  coming ;'  and  as  soon  as  the  spirits 
entered  the  door  they  entered  the  mediums,  which  moved  them  from 
their  seats  as  quick  as  lightning.  Then  followed  the  Indian  songs  and 
dances,  and  speaking  in  the  Indian  tongue,  which  was  wholly  unintelligi- 
ble to  us  except  by  spiritual  interpreters." 

Some  of  the  most  curious  literature  of  the  Shakers  dates 
from  this  period ;  and  it  is  freely  admitted  by  their  leading 
men  that  they  were  in  some  cases  misled  into  acts  and  publi- 
cations which  they  have  since  seen  reason  to  regret.  Their 
belief  is  that  they  were  deceived  by  false  spirits,  and  were  un- 
able, in  many  cases,  to  distinguish  the  true  from  the  false. 
That  is  to  say,  they  hold  to  their  faith  in  "  spiritual  commu- 
nications," so  called ;  but  repudiate  much  in  which  they  for- 
merly had  faith,  believing  this  which  they  now  reject  to  have 
come  from  the  Evil  One. 

Little  has  ever  become  authentically  known  of  the  so-called 


236     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"spiritual"  phenomena,  which  so  profoundly  excited  the  Shak- 
er societies  during  seven  years  that,  as  Elder  Frederick  relates, 
they  closed  their  doors  against  the  world.  Hervey  Elkins,  a 
person  brought  up  in  the  society  at  Enfield,  New  Hampshire, 
in  his  pamphlet  entitled  "  Fifteen  Years  in  the  Senior  Order  of 
Shakers,"  from  which  I  have  already  quoted,  gives  some  curious 
details  of  this  period.  It  will  be  seen,  from  the  passages  I 
extract  from  Elkins,  that  he  came  under  what  he  supposed  to 
be  "  spiritual "  influences  himself : 

"  In  the  spring  succeeding  the  winter  of  which  I  have  treated,  a  re- 
markable religious  revival  began  among  all  the  Shakers  of  the  land, 
east  and  west.  It  was  announced  several  months  prior  to  its  commence- 
ment that  the  holy  prophet  Elisha  was  deputized  to  visit  the  Zion  of 
God  on  earth,  and  to  bestow  upon  each  individual  those  graces  which 
each  needed,  and  to  baptize  with  the  Holy  Ghost  all  the  young  who 
would  prepare  their  souls  for  such  a  baptism. 

"  The  time  at  length  arrived.  No  one  knew  the  manner  in  which  the 
prophet  would  make  himself  known.  The  people  were  grave  and  con- 
cerned about  their  spiritual  standing.  Two  female  instruments  from 
Canterbury,  N.  H.,  were  at  length  ushered  into  the  sanctuary.  Their  eyes 
were  closed,  and  their  faces  moved  in  semigyrations.  Their  countenances 
were  pallid,  as  though  worn  by  unceasing  vigils.  They  looked  as  though 
laden  with  a  momentous  and  impending  revelation.  Throughout  the 
assembly,  pallid  faces,  tears,  and  trembling  limbs  were  visible.  Anxiety 
and  excitement  were  felt  in  every  mind,  as  all  believed  the  instruments 
sacredly  and  superhumanly  inspired.  The  alternate  redness  and  pallor 
of  every  countenance  revealed  this  anxiety.  For  the  space  of  five  minutes 
the  spacious  hall  was  as  silent  as  the  tomb.  One  of  the  mediums  then 
advanced  in  the  space  between  the  ranks  of  brethren  and  sisters,  and  an- 
nounced with  a  clear,  deep,  and  sonorous  voice,  and  in  sublime  and  au- 
thoritative language,  the  mission  of  the  holy  prophet.  The  ministry 
then  bade  the  instruments  to  be  free  and  proceed  as  they  could  answer 
to  God ;  and  conferred  on  them  plenary  power  to  conduct  the  meetings 
as  the  prophet  should  direct. 

"  After  marching  a  few  songs,  the  prophet  requested  the  formation  of 
two  circles,  one  containing  all  the  brethren,  the  other  the  sisters.  The 
two  mediums  were  first  inclosed  by  the  circle  of  brethren.  They  both 


The  Shakers. 


237 


were  young  women  between  twenty  and  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  had 
never  before  been  at  Enfield.  They  had  probably  never  heard  the  names 
of  two  thirds  of  the  younger  members.  They  moved  around  in  these  cir- 
cles, stopping  before  each  one  as  though  reading  the  condition  of  every 
heart.  As  they  passed  some,  they  evinced  pleasure ;  as  they  passed  oth- 
ers, they  bespoke  grief;  others,  yet,  an  obvious  contempt ;  by  which  it 
seemed  they  looked  within,  and  saw  with  delight  or  horror  the  state  of 
all.  From  our  knowledge  of  the  members,  we  knew  they  passed  and 
noticed  them  as  their  works  merited.  Little  was  said  to  separate  indi- 
viduals in  the  first  meeting.  In  the  second,  we  were  requested  to  form 
six  circles,  three  of  each  sex,  and  those  of  a  circle  to  be  connected  togeth- 
er by  the  taking  hold  of  hands ;  and  in  this  manner  to  bow,  bend,  and 
dance.  In  this  condition  an  influence  was  felt,  upon  which  psychologists 
and  biologists  would  differ.  It  would  be  needless  to  enumerate  the  many 
gifts,  the  prophecies,  the  extempore  songs,  the  revelations,  the  sins  ex- 
posed, and  the  hypocrites  ejected  from  the  society  during  this  period  of 
two  months.  But,  as  near  as  we  could  estimate,  four  hundred  new  songs 
were  sung  in  that  time,  either  by  improvisation  or  inspiration,  of  which  I 
have  my  opinion.  I  doubt  not  but  that  many  were  inspired  by  spirits 
congenial  with  themselves,  and  consequently  some  of  the  songs  evinced 
a  fatuity  and  simplicity  peculiar  to  the  instrument.  On  the  other  hand, 
many  songs  were  given  from  spheres  above,  higher  in  melody,  sentiment, 
and  pathos  than  any  originating  with  earth's  inhabitants. 

"  I  recollect  that  the  first  spiritual  gift  presented  to  me  was  a  '  Cup  of 
Solemnity.'  I  drank  the  contents,  and  felt  for  a  season  the  salutary  ef- 
fects. During  the  revival  I  became  sincerely  converted.  I  for  a  time, 
by  reason  of  prejudice  and  distrust,  resisted  the  effect  of  the  impressions, 
which  at  length  overwhelmed  me  in  a  flood  of  tears,  shed  for  joy  and 
gladness,  as  I  more  and  more  turned  my  thoughts  to  the  Infinite.  At 
last  a  halo  of  heavenly  glory  seemed  to  surround  me.  I  drank  deep  of 
the  cup  of  the  waters  of  life,  and  was  lifted  in  mind  and  purpose  from 
this  world  of  sorrow  and  sin.  I  soared  in  thought  to  God,  and  enjoyed 
him  in  his  attributes  of  purity  and  love.  I  was  wafted  by  angels  safely 
above  the  ocean  of  sensual  enjoyment  which  buries  so  many  millions,  but 
into  which  I  had  never  fallen.  I  explored  the  beauties  of  ineffable  bliss, 
and  caught  a  glimpse  of  that  divinity  which  is  the  culmination  of  science 
and  the  end  of  the  world.  The  adoration  and  solemnity  of  the  sanctuary 
enveloped  me  as  with  a  mantle,  even  when  employed  in  manual  labor  and 
in  the  company  of  my  companions.  The  frivolity  of  some  of  my  com- 


238     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

panions  disgusted  me.  The  extreme  and  favorable  change  wrought 
within  me  in  so  short  a  time  was  often  remarked  by  the  elders  and  mem- 
bers of  the  society ;  but  the  praise  or  the  censure  of  mortals  were  to  me 
like  alternate  winds,  and  of  little  avail. 

"  Two  years  thus  passed,  in  which  my  highest  enjoyments  and  pleas- 
ures were  an  inward  contemplation  of  the  beauty,  love,  and  holiness  of 
God,  and  in  the  ecstatic  impressions  that  I  was  in  the  hollow  of  his 
hand,  and  owned  and  blessed  of  him.  Still  later  in  life  I  retained  and 
could  evoke  at  times  the  same  profoundly  religious  impressions,  con- 
taminated, however,  by  other  favorite  objects  of  study  and  attachment. 
Even  the  expression  of  my  countenance  wore  an  aspect  of  deep,  tender, 
and  benignant  gravity,  which  the  reflection  of  less  holy  subjects  could 
not  produce.  It  was  my  delight  to  pray  fervently  and  tacitly,  and  this  I 
often  did  besides  the  usual  time  allotted  for  such  devotion.  (Vocal  prayer 
is  not  admissible  among  the  Shakers.)  I  loved  to  unite  in  the  dance,  and 
give  myself  up  to  the  operations  of  spirits  even,  if  it  would  not  thwart 
my  meditative  communion  with  God  and  with  God  alone.  Though  in- 
struments or  mediums  were  multiplied  around  me,  dancing  in  imitation 
of  the  spirits  of  all  nations,  singing  and  conversing  in  unknown  tongues, 
some  evincing  a  truly  barbarian  attitude  and  manners,  I  stood  in  mute 
thanksgiving  and  prayer.  At  times  I  was  asked  by  the  elders  if  I  could 
not  unite  and  take  upon  me  an  Indian,  a  Norwegian,  or  an  Arabian  spirit  ? 
I  would  then  strive  to  be  impressed  with  their  feelings,  and  act  in  con- 
formity thereto.  But  such  inspiration,  I  found,  was  not  the  revelation  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  It  was  not  that  which  elevated  and  kept  me  from  all 
trials  and  temptations.  But  my  inward  spontaneous  devotion  was  the 
kind  I  needed.  I  informed  the  elders  of  my  opinion,  and  they  concurred 
in  it,  only  they  regarded  the  inspiration  of  simple  and  unsophisticated 
spirits  as  a  stepping-stone  to  a  higher  revelation,  by  virtue  of  removing 
pride,  vanity,  and  self-will,  those  great  barriers  against  the  accession  of 
holy  infusions. 

*  *  *  *  #  #  *  *  *        . 

"  In  the  fall  of  that  season  this  revival  redoubled  its  energy.  The  gifts 
were  similar  to  those  of  the  spring  previous,  but  less  charity  was  shown 
to  the  hypocrite  and  vile  pretender.  It  was  announced  that  Jehovah — 
Power  and  Wisdom — the  dual  God,  would  visit  the  inhabitants  of  Zion, 
and  bestow  a  blessing  upon  each  individual  as  their  works  should  merit. 
A  time  was  given  for  us  to  prepare  for  his  coming.  Every  building,  ev- 
ery apartment,  every  lane,  field,  orchard,  and  pasture,  must  be  cleansed  of 


The  Shakers.  239 


all  rubbish  and  needless  encumbrance ;  so  that  even  a  Shaker  village,  so 
notorious  for  neatness,  wore  an  aspect  fifty  per  cent,  more  tidy  than  usual. 
To  sweep  our  buildings,  regulate  our  stores,  pick  up  and  draw  to  a  cir- 
cular wood-saw  old  bits  of  boards,  stakes,  and  poles  that  were  fit  for 
naught  but  fuel,  and  collect  into  piles  to  be  burned  upon  the  spot  all 
such  as  were  unfit  for  that,  was  the  order  of  the  day.  Even  the  sisters 
debouched  by  scores  to  help  improve  the  appearance  of  the  farm  and  lake 
shores,  on  which  were  quantities  of  drift-wood.  Thus  was  passed  a  fort- 
night of  pleasant  autumnal  weather.  As  the  evenings  approached,  we 
set  fire  to  the  piles  of  old  wood,  which  burned,  the  flames  shooting  upward, 
in  a  serene  evening,  like  the  innumerable  bonfires  which  announce  the 
ingress  of  a  regal  visitant  to  monarchical  countries.  Viewed  from  the 
plain  below,  in  the  gray,  dim  twilight  of  a  soft  and  serene  atmosphere, 
when  all  nature  was  wrapped  in  the  unique  and  beautiful  solemnity  of 
an  unusually  prorogued  autumn,  these  fires,  emerging  in  the  blue  distance 
from  the  vast  amphitheatre  of  hills,  were  picturesque  in  the  highest  de- 
gree. How  neat !  how  fascinating !  and  how  much  like  our  conceptions 
of  heaven  the  whole  vale  appeared !  And  then  to  regard  this  work  of 
cleansing  and  beautifying  the  domains  of  Mount  Zion  as  that  preparatory 
to  the  visitation  of  the  Most  High,  is  something  which  speaks  to  the 
heart  and  says :  '  Dost  thou  appear  as  beautiful,  as  clean,  and  as  comely 
in  the  sight  of  God  as  do  these  elements  of  an  unthinking  world  ?  Is 
thine  heart  also  prepared  to  be  searched  with  the  candles  of  him  from 
whom  no  unclean  thing  is  hidden  ?' 

"  The  following  words  were  said  to  have  been  brought  by  an  angel  from 
Jehovah,  and  accompanied  by  a  most  beautiful  tune  of  two  airs : 

'  I  shall  march  through  Mount  Zion, 
With  my  angelic  band; 
I  shall  pass  through  the  city 
With  my  fan  in  my  hand ; 
And  around  thee,  O  Jerusalem, 
My  armies  will  encamp, 
While  I  search  my  Holy  Temple 
With  my  bright  burning  lamp.' 

"It  was  during  this  revival  that  Henry,  of  whom  I  have  spoken,  was 
ejected  from  the  society.  During  this,  as  also  during  the  previous  excite- 
ment, he  had  exhibited  an  aversion  which  often  found  vent  in  bitter 
taunts  and  jeers.  Sometimes,  however,  a  simulated  unity  of  feeling  had 
prevented  his  publicly  incurring  the  imputation  of  open  rebellion.  He 


240     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

had  learned  some  scraps  of  the  Latin  language,  and  on  the  occasion  of  the 
evening  worship  in  which  he  was  expelled,  he  afterward  informed  us 
that,  at  the  time  he  was  arraigned  for  expulsion,  he  was  pretendedly 
uniting  with  those  who  were  speaking  in  unknown  languages  by  employ- 
ing awful  oaths  and  profanity  in  the  Latin  tongue.  A  female  instrument, 
said  to  be  employed  by  the  spirit  of  Ann  Lee,  approached  him  while  thus 
engaged,  and  uttered  in  a  low,  distinct,  and  funereal  accent  a  denunciation 
which  severed  him  as  a  withered  branch  from  the  tree  of  life.  He  sud- 
denly bowed  as  if  beneath  the  weight  of  a  terrible  destiny,  smiting  his 
breast  and  ejaculating,  '  Pardon  !  pardon  !  Oh,  forgive — forgive  me  my 
transgressions !'  The  elders  strove  to  hush  his  cries,  and  replied  that 
'  all  forbearance  is  at  an  end.'  His  ardent  vociferations  now  degenerated 
into  inarticulate  yells  of  horror  and  demoniacal  despair.  He  rushed  from 
the  group  which  surrounded  him,  he  glided  like  one  unconscious  of  the 
presence  of  others  from  one  extremity  of  the  hall  to  another,  he  smote 
with  clenched  fists  the  walls  of  the  apartment,  and  reeled  at  last  in  convul- 
sive agony,  uttering  the  deep,  hollow  groan  of  inexorable  expiation.  In 
this  situation  he  was  hurried  for  the  last  time  from  the  sanctuary  which 
he  had  so  often  profaned,  and  from  the  presence  of  those  moistened  eyes 
and  commiserative  looks  which  he  never  would  again  behold.  The  con- 
fession of  his  blasphemous  profanity  he  made  at  the  trustees'  office  prior 
to  his  leaving  the  society,  which  occurred  the  subsequent  morning." 

At  another  time  such  scenes  as  the  following  are  described : 

"  Shrieks  of  some  one,  apparently  in  great  distress,  first  announced  a 
phenomenon,  which  caused  the  excitement.  The  screeching  proceeded 
from  a  girl  of  but  thirteen  years  of  age,  who  had  previously  among  the 
Shakers  been  a  clairvoyant,  and  who  has  since  been  a  powerful  medium 
for  spiritual  manifestation  elsewhere.  She  soon  fell  upon  the  floor,  utter- 
ing awful  cries,  similar  to  those  we  had  often  heard  emanating  from  in- 
struments groaning  under  the  pressure  of  some  hidden  abomination  in 
the  assembly.  She  plucked  out  entire  handfuls  of  her  hair,  and  wailed 
and  shrieked  like  one  subjected  to  all  the  conceived  agonies  of  hell. 
The  ministry  and  elders  remarked  that  they  believed  that  something  was 
wrong ;  something  extremely  heinous  was  covered  from  God's  witnesses 
somewhere  in  the  assembly.  All  were  exhorted  to  search  themselves,  and 
see  if  they  had  nothing  about  them  that  God  disowns.  The  meeting  was 
soon  dismissed,  but  the  medium  continued  in  her  abnormal  and  deplora- 
ble condition.  Near  the  middle  of  the  succeeding  night  we  were  all 


The  SJiakers.  241 


awakened  by  the  ringing  of  the  alarm,  and  summoned  quickly  to  re- 
pair to  the  girls'  apartments.  We  obeyed.  The  same  medium  lay  upon 
a  bed,  uttering  in  the  name  of  an  apostate  from  the  Shaker  faith,  and 
who  was  still  living  in  New  England,  tremendous  imprecations  against 
himself,  warning  all  to  beware  of  what  use  they  make  of  their  privilege 
in  Zion,  telling  us  of  his  awful  torments  in  hell,  how  his  flesh  (or  the  sub- 
stance of  his  spiritual  body)  was  all  to  strings  and  ringlets  torn,  how  he 
was  roasted  in  flames  of  brimstone  and  tar,  and,  finally,  that  all  these  ca- 
lamities were  caused  by  his  doleful  corruptions  and  pollutions  while  a 
member,  and  professedly  a  brother  to  us.  This,  it  was  supposed  by  many, 
was  by  true  revelation  the  anticipation  of  the  future  state  of  this  victim 
of  apostasy  and  sin.  Two  or  three  more  girls  were  soon  taken  in  the 
same  manner,  and  became  uncontrollable.  They  were  all  instruments  for 
reprobated  spirits,  and  breathed  nothing  but  hatred  and  blasphemy  to 
God.  They  railed,  they  cursed,  they  swore,  they  heaped  the  vilest  epithets 
upon  the  heads  of  the  leaders  and  most  faithful  of  the  members,  they  pulled 
each  other's  and  their  own  hair,  threw  knives,  forks,  and  the  most  danger- 
ous of  missiles.  When  the  instruments  were  rational,  the  elders  entreated 
them  to  keep  off  such  vile  spirits.  They  would  weep  in  anguish,  and 
reply  that,  unless  they  spoke  and  acted  for  the  spirits,  they  would  choke 
them  to  death.  They  would  then  suddenly  swoon  away,  and  in  strug- 
gling to  resist  them  would  choke  and  gasp,  until  they  had  the  appear- 
ance of  a  victim  strangled  by  a  rope  tightly  drawn  around  her  neck.  If 
they  would  then  speak,  the  strangulation  would  cease.  In  the  mean  time 
two  females  of  adult  age,  and  two  male  youths,  were  seized  in  the  same 
manner.  Unless  confined,  they  would  elope,  and  appear  to  all  intents  the 
victims  of  insanity.  One  of  the  young  women  eloped,  fled  to  a  lake 
which  was  covered  with  ice,  was  pursued  by  some  of  the  ox  teamsters, 
and  carried  back  to  the  infirmary.  Two  men  could  with  difficulty  hold 
a  woman  or  a  child  when  thus  influenced.  To  prevent  mischief  and 
elopement,  we  were  obliged  to  envelop  their  bodies  and  their  arms 
tightly  in  sheets,  and  thus  sew  them  up  and  confine  them  until  the  spell 
was  over.  Such  delirium  generally  lasted  but  a  few  hours.  It  would 
seize  them  at  any  time  and  at  any  place. 

"  The  phenomena  to  which  we  allude  was  the  source  of  much  facetious 
pleasantry  with  the  young  brethren.  One  of  the  infernal  spirits  had  one 
evening  declared  that i  before  morning  they  would  have  the  deacon  and 
Lupier.'  'Deacon'  was  an  epithet  applied  to  myself,  as  a  token  of  fa- 
miliarity. The  tidings  of  the  declaration  of  this  infernal  agent  were  soon 


242     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

conveyed  to  me.  It  happened  that  my  companion  of  the  dormitory,  a 
middle-aged  man,  had  that  evening  gone  to  watch  with  the  mediums, 
and  I  was  left  alone.  I  replied  to  my  companions,  who  interrogated  and 
sarcastically  congratulated  me  on  my  prospects  for  the  night,  that '  if  the 
corporeal  influence  of  incarnate  devils  could  be  kept  from  the  room,  I 
would  combat  without  aid  all  other  influences  and  answer  for  my  own 
safety."  I  accordingly  locked  myself  into  my  room,  and  enjoyed,  unmo- 
lested for  the  night,  except  by  occasional  raps  upon  the  door  by  my  pass- 
ing comrades,  some  of  whom  were  up  all  night  by  reason  of  the  excite- 
ment, a  sound  and  pleasant  sleep.  One  or  two  instances  occurred  in 
which  a  superhuman  agency  was  indubitably  obvious.  One  of  the  ab- 
normal males  lay  in  a  building  at  some  distance  from  the  infirmary 
where  the  female  instruments  were  confined.  Suddenly  one  of  the  last, 
who  had  been  for  some  time  in  a  quiescent  state  and  rational,  was  seized 
by  one  of  these  paroxysms,  which  were  always  accompanied  by  dreadful 
contortions  and  sudden  twitchings  of  the  body,  and,  speaking  for  the 

spirit,  said  that '  Old  S had  bound  him  with  a  surcingle,  and  he  had 

left  E ,'  one  of  the  male  instruments.  The  physician  instantly  re- 
paired to  the  building  where  E lay,  and  he  was  perfectly  rational. 

S ,  the  watch,  informed  the  physician  that  E raved  so  violently 

a  moment  before  that  he  bound  his  arms  to  his  body  by  passing  a 
surcingle  around  both,  and  he  quickly  became  himself.  At  another  time 
one  of  the  females  took  a  handful  of  living  coals  in  her  bare  hands,  and 
thus  carried  them  about  the  room  without  even  injuring  the  cuticle  of 
the  skin. 

"  The  phenomena  and  excitement  soon  dwindled  away  by  the  tre- 
mendous opposition  directed  against  them ;  and  when  afterward  spoken 
about,  were  designated  by  the  sinister  phrase — '  The  Devil's  Visitation.' 

•  "Other  ministrations  and  gifts,  original  and  perfectly  illustrative  of 
the  inspirations  of  crude  and  uncivilized  spirits,  continued  as  usual  to  ex- 
ist. They  were  truly  ludicrous.  I  have  seen  female  instruments  in  un- 
couth habits,  and  in  imitation  of  squaws,  and  a  few  males  acting  as  sun- 
eps,  glide  in  groups  on  a  stiffly  frozen  snow,  shouting,  dancing,  yelling, 
and  whooping,  and  others  acting  precisely  the  peculiar  traits  of  a  Negro, 
an  Arab,  a  Chinese,  an  Italian,  or  even  the  polite  gayety  of  a  Frenchman. 
And,  what  is  still  more  astounding,  speaking  the  vernacular  clialects  of 
each  race.  Their  confabulation,  aided  by  inspired  interpreters,  was  truly 
amusing  and  interesting.  On  one  occasion  I  saw  a  sister,  inspired  by  a 
squaw,  her  head  mounted  with  an  old  hat  of  felt,  cocked,  jammed,  and 


The  Shakers.  243 


indented  in  no  geometrical  form,  rush  to  a  pan  containing  a  collection  of 
the  amputated  legs  of  hens,  seize  a  handful  of  the  raw  delicacy,  and  de- 
vour them  with  as  much  alacrity  as  a  Yankee  woman  would  an  omelet 
or  a  doughnut." 

In  general,  Elkins  relates : 

"  I  have  myself  seen  males,  but  more  frequently  females,  in  a  superin- 
duced condition,  apparently  unconscious  of  earthly  things,  and  declaring 
in  the  name  of  departed  spirits  important  and  convincing  revelations. 
Speaking  in  foreign  tongues  and  prophesying  were  the  most  common 
gifts.  In  February,  1848,  a  medium  became  abstracted  from  earthly 
scenes,  and  announced  the  presence  of  an  angel  of  God.  The  angel  de- 
clared, through  her,  that  he  was  sent  on  a  mission  to  France,  and  that 
before  many  days  we  should  hear  of  his  doings  in  that  nation.  This  an- 
nouncement was  in  presence  of  the  whole  family,  and  it  was  then  and 
there  noted  down.  France  at  that  time  was,  for  aught  we  knew,  resting 
upon  a  permanent  political  basis ;  or  as  nearly  in  that  condition  as  she 
ever  was.  In  a  few  days  the  revolution  of  the  24th  of  February  precipi- 
tated the  monarchy  into  an  interregnum,  which  philanthropists  hoped 
was  bottomless. 

"  Turning  rapidly  upon  the  toes,  bowing,  bending,  twisting,  and  reel- 
ing like  one  a  victim  to  the  fumes  of  intoxication  ;  swooning  and  lying 
prostrate  with  limbs  stiff  and  unyielding,  like  a  corpse,  and  to  all  out- 
ward appearance  the  vital  spark  extinct ;  then  suddenly  resuscitating — 
the  mind  still  abstracted  from  scenes  below — and  rising  to  join  in  the 
jubilancy  of  the  dance,  in  company  with  and  in  imitation  of  the  angels 
around  the  throne  of  God,  singing  extemporaneous  anthems  and  songs, 
or  those  learned  direct  of  seraphs  in  the  regions  of  bliss — such  are  the 
many  exercises,  effusions  of  devotion,  and  supernatural  illapses  of  which 
I  was  for  fifteen  years  at  intervals  an  eye  and  ear  witness.  Also  the  ex- 
posure of  sin,  designating  in  some  cases  the  transgressor,  the  act,  and  the 
place  of  perpetration,  of  which  the  accused  was  most  generally  found 
culpable. 

"  More  than  a  score  of  new  dances  were  performed,  with  an  attitude  of 
grace  and  with  the  precision  of  a  machine,  by  about  twenty  female  clair- 
voyants. They  said  they  learned  them  of  seraphs  before  the  throne  of  God. 

"  I  was  doubtful  of  their  assertions,  for  such  things  were  to  me  novel. 
I  however  determined  not  to  overstep  the  bounds  of  prudence,  and  de- 
clare the  work  an  illusion,  for  fear  that  I  might  blaspheme  a  higher  pow- 


244     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

er.  I  communicated  my  doubts  to  a  few  of  my  companions,  and  one,  less 
cautious  than  myself,  immediately  broke  forth  in  imprecations  against  it. 
I  never  was  secretly  opposed,  but  a  turbulent  disposition  or  a  love  for 
dramatic  scenes,  prompted  by  the  hope  of  detecting  either  the  validity 
or  deception  of  such  phenomena,  impelled  me  to  wink  opposition  to  my 
reckless  companion.  In  the  devotional  exercises,  which  served  as  a  pre- 
liminary to  the  entrance  of  the  mind  into  a  superior  condition,  such  as 
whirling,  twisting,  and  reeling,  we  all  took  a  part.  Henry,  for  that  was 
the  name  of  the  youth  who  was  so  zealous  in  his  aspersions,  united  awk- 
wardly and  derisively  in  these  exercises.  Amid  so  many  arms,  legs,  and 
bodies,  revolving,  oscillating,  staggering,  and  tripping,  it  is  not  remarka- 
ble that  a  few  should  be  thrown  prostrate  (not  violently,  however)  upon 
the  floor.  One  evening,  in  a  boy's  meeting  at  a  time  of  great  excitement, 
when  the  spirits  of  some  of  our  companions  were  reported  to  be  in  spir- 
itual spheres,  and  other  departed  spirits  were  careering  their  mortal  la- 
dies in  the  graceful  undulations  of  a  celestial  dance,  Henry  and  many 
others,  among  whom  I  was  seen,  were  whirling,  staggering,  and  rolling, 
striving  in  vain,  by  all  the  humility  we  could  assume,  to  be  also  admitted 
into  the  regions  of  spiritual  recognition,  Henry  suddenly  tripped  and  fell. 
One  of  his  visionary  companions  instantly  sprang,  passed  his  hands  with 
great  rapidity  over  him,  as  though  binding  him  with  invisible  cords,  and 
then  returned  to  his  graceful  employment.  The  clairvoyant's  eyes  were 
closed,  as  indeed  were  the  eyes  of  all  while  in  that  condition.  In  vain 
Henry  struggled  to  rise,  to  turn,  or  hardly  to  move.  He  was  fettered, 
bound  fast  by  invisible  manacles.  The  brethren  were  summoned  to  wit- 
ness the  sight.  In  the  space  of  perhaps  half  an  hour  the  clairvoyant  re- 
turned, loosened  his  fetters,  and  he  arose  mortified  and  confounded. 
Singularly  disposed,  he  ever  after  treated  these  gifts  with  virulent  ridi- 
cule, and  never  was  heard  to  utter  any  serious  remarks  concerning  this 
transaction.  The  clairvoyant  after  this  event  was  the  butt  of  his  satire 
and  jests,  and  received  them  without  revenge  so  long  as  Henry  remained, 
which  was  about  .five  years — a  reckless,  abandoned,  evil-minded  person, 
eventually  severed  by  that  same  power  which  he  strove  incessantly  to 
ridicule.  All  these  strange  operations  and  gifts  are  attributed  by  the 
Shakers  to  the  influence  of  superhuman  power  like  that  manifested  in 
the  Primitive  Church." 

Some  of  the  hymns  which  date  from  this  period  have  frag- 
ments of  the  "strange  tongues"  in  which  the  "mediums" 


The  Shakers.  245 


spoke.    Here  is  one,  dated  at  New  Lebanon,  and  printed  in  the 
collection  called  "  Millennial  Hymns :" 

"HEAVENLY  GUIDE. 

uLo  all  vo,  hark  ye,  dear  children,  and  listen  to  me, 
For  I  am  that  holy  Se  lone'  se  ka'  ra  an  ve'; 
My  work  upon  earth  is  holy,  holy  and  pure, 
That  work  which  will  ever,  forever  endure. 

"Yea,  my  heavenly  Father  hath  se-ve'-ned  to  you 
That  power  which  is  holy  and  that  faith  which  is  true ; 
O  then,  my  beloved,  why  will  ye  delay  ? 
O  la  ho'  le  en  se'  ren,  now  while  it  is  day. 

"The  holy  angels  in  heaven  their  trumpets  do  raise, 
And  with  saints  upon  earth  sound  endless  praise. 
Blessed,  most  blessed,  your  day,  and  holy  your  call, 
O  ven  se'  ne  ven  se'  ne,  yea  every  soul. 

"All  holy  se  ka'  ren  are  the  free  blessings  given 
And  bestowed  on  you  from  the  fountain  of  heaven; 
Yea,  guardian  spirits  from  the  holy  Selan', 
Bring  you  heavenly  love,  vi'  ne  see',  Lin'  se  van'. 

"Press  ye  on,  my  dear  children,  the  holy  Van'  la  hoo' 
Is  your  heavenly  guide,  and  will  safely  bear  you  through 
All  volen  tribulation  you  meet  here  below; 
Then  be  humble,  dear  children,  be  faithful  and  true. 

"For  God,  your  holy,  holy  HEAVENLY  FATHER,  will  never, 
Never  forsake  his  holy  house  of  Israel  on  e.a.r.t.h., 
But  the  blessings  of  heaven  will  continue  to  flow 
On  you,  my  beloved  Ar'  se  le  be  low.     (n-o-t-e-8.)" 

The  most  curious  relics  of  those  days  are  two  considerable 
volumes,  which  have  since  fallen  into  discredit  among  the 
Shakers  themselves,  but  were  at  the  time  of  their  issue  re- 
garded as  highly  important.  One  of  these  is  entitled  "  A  Holy, 
Sacred,  and  Divine  Roll  and  Book,  from  the  Lord  God  of 
Heaven  to  the  Inhabitants  of  Earth :  Revealed  in  the  Unit- 
ed Society  at  New  Lebanon,  County  of  Columbia,  State  of 


246     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

New  York,  United  States  of  America.  Received  by  the 
Church  of  this  Communion,  and  published  in  union  with  the 
same."  It  is  dated  Canterbury,  IS".  H.,  1843  ;  contains  405 
pages ;  and  is  in  two  parts.  The  first  part  contains  the  revela- 
tion proper ;  the  second,  various  "  testimonies  "  to  its  accuracy 
and  divine  origin.  Of  these  evidences,  some  purport  to  be  by 
the  prophets  Elisha,  Ezekiel,  Malachi,  Isaiah,  and  others ;  from 
Noah,  St.  Peter,  St.  John ;  by  "  Holy  and  Eternal  Mother  Wis- 
dom," and  a  "  holy  and  mighty  angel  of  God,"  whose  name 
was  Ma'ne  Me- rah  VaJ&'na  Si'na  Jah ;  but  the  greater  num- 
ber are  by  living  Shakers.  As  a  part  of  the  revelation,  the 
Shakers  were  commanded  to  print,  "  in  their  own  society,  five 
hundred  copies  "  of  this  book,  to  be  "  given  to  the  children  of 
men,"  and  "  it  is  my  requirement  that  they  be  printed  before 
the  22d  of  next  September.  To  be  bound  in  yellow  paper, 
with  red  backs ;  edges  yellow  also."  Moreover,  missionary  so- 
cieties were  commanded  to  translate  the  book  into  foreign 
tongues,  and  I  have  heard  that  a  copy  was  sent  to  every  ruler 
or  government  which  could  be  reached  by  mail. 

The  body  of  the  book  is  a  mixture  of  Scripture  texts  and 
"  revelations  of  spirits ;"  and  the  absurdity  of  it  appears  to 
have  struck  even  the  so-called  "holy  angel"  who  was  sup- 
posed to  have  superintended  the  writing,  as  appears  from  the 
following  passage : 

"  We  are  four  of  the  holy  and  mighty  angels  of  God,  sent  from  before 
his  throne,  to  pass  and  repass  through  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth ; 
and  many  are  the  holy  angels  that  bear  us  company.  And  thus  we  shall 
visit  the  earth  in  partial  silence,  as  this  Roll  goes  forth,  until  we  have 
marked  the  door-posts  of  all,  as  our  God  hath  commanded,  who  shall 
humble  themselves  and  repent  at  his  word,  by  proclaiming  a  solemn  fast, 
and  cease  from  their  awful  crimes  of  wickedness,  and  turn  to  him  in 
righteousness. 

"  My  name,  says  the  angel  whose  quarter  is  eastward,  and  stands  as 
first,  is  HOLY  ASSAN'  DE  LA  JAH'.  The  second,  whose  part  is  sec- 
ond, and  quarter  westward,  is  MI'CHAEL  VAN'  CE  VA'  NB.  The 


The  Shakers.  247 


third,  whose  part  is  third,  and  quarter  northward,  is  GA'  BRY  VEN' 
DO  VAS'  TER  REEN'.  The  fourth,  whose  part  is  fourth,  and  quarter 
southward,  is  VEN  DEN'  DE  PA'  ROL  JEW  LE  JAH'. 

"  These  are  our  names  in  our  own  tongues,  and  we  are  sent  on  earth 
to  prepare  the  way  for  the  Most  High ;  and  the  whole  human  family  will 
be  convinced  of  this  before  the  final  event  of  our  mission  shall  arrive. 

"  And  although  we  know  that  the  words  of  this  book  will  be  consid- 
ered by  many  as  being  produced  in  the  wildest  of  enthusiasm,  madness, 
blasphemy,  and  fanaticism,  and  by  others  as  solemn,  sacred,  and  awful 
truths ;  yet  do  we  declare  unto  all  flesh  that  this  Roll  and  Book  contains 
the  word  of  the  God  of  heaven,  your  Almighty  Creator,  sent  forth  direct 
from  his  eternal  throne  now  in  this  your  day. 

"  And  by  this  word  shall  every  soul  on  earth  be  judged,  in  mercy  or  in 
judgment,  whether  they  believe  or  disbelieve.  We  are  not  sent  forth  by 
our  God  to  argue  with  mortals,  but  to  declare  his  word  and  his  work. 
And  we  furthermore  declare  unto  all  the  inhabitants  of  earth  that  they 
have  no  time  to  lose  in  preparing  for  their  God. 

"  If  there  be  any  who  can  not  understand  to  their  souls'  satisfaction 
(though  the  requirements  are  plain),  yet  they  may  apply  wheresoever 
they  believe  they  can  be  correctly  informed." 

As  a  sample  of  the  book,  here  is  an  account  by  one  of  the 
mediums  of  her  "interview  with  a  holy  angel :" 

"  It  was  in  the  evening  of  the  twenty-second  of  January,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  forty-two,  while  I  was  busily  employed  putting  all  things  in 
readiness  for  the  close  of  the  week,  that  I  distinctly  heard  my  name 
called  very  loudly,  and  with  much  earnestness.  I  could  not  go  so  well 
at  that  moment,  and  I  answered,  '  I  will  come  soon,'  for  I  supposed  it  to 
be  some  one  in  the  adjoining  room  that  wished  to  see  me ;  but  the  word 
was  repeated  three  times,  and  I  hastened  to  the  place  from  whence  the 
sound  seemed  to  come,  but  there  was  no  one  present. 

"I  soon  saw  in  the  middle  of  the  room  four  very  large  and  bright 
lights,  or  balls  of  fire,  as  they  appeared  to  be ;  they  moved  slowly  each 
way,  and  after  a  little  time  joined  together  in  one  exceedingly  large  light, 
or  pillar  of  fire.  At  this  moment  I  heard  a  loud  voice,  which  uttered 
many  words  with  such  mighty  force  that  I  feared  to  stay  in  the  room, 
and  attempted  to  go  out ;  but  found  that  I  had  not  power  to  move  my 
feet, 

"For  some  time  I  could  not  understand  one  word  that  was  sounded 


248    Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

forth ;  but  the  first  that  I  did  understand  were  as  follows :  *  Hark  !  hark  ! 
hearken,  O  thou  child  of  mortality,  unto  the  word  that  is  and  shall  be 
sounded  aloud  in  thine  ears,  again  and  again,  even  until  it  is  obeyed. 

" '  And  lo,  I  say  a  time,  and  a  time,  and  a  half-time  shall  not  pass  by 
before  my  voice  shall  be  heard,  and  my  word  sounded  forth  to  the  na- 
tions abroad.  But  in  the  Zion  of  my  likeness  and  true  righteousness  shall 
it  be  received  first,  and  from  thence  shall  it  go  forth  ;  for  thus  and  thus 
hath  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth  declared  and  purposed  that  it  should 
be. 

" '  Then  why  will  you,  O  why  will  you,  yet  fear  to  obey  ?  What  would 
you  that  your  God  would  do  in  your  presence,  that  you  might  fear  his 
power  rather  than  that  of  mortal  man  ?' 

"  From  this  moment  I  was  not  sensible  where  I  was ;  and  after  a  little 
time  of  silence  the  body  of  light,  or  pillar  of  fire,  dispersed,  and  I  saw  a 
mighty  angel  coming  from  the  east,  and  I  heard  these  words : 

"  '  Woe,  woe,  and  many  woes  shall  be  upon  the  mortal  that  shall  see  and 
will  not  stop  to  behold.' " 

And  so  on,  for  a  good  many  pages. 

The  second  work  is  called  "  The  Divine  Boole,  of  Holy  and 
Eternal  Wisdom,  revealing  the  Word  of  God,  out  of  whose 
mouth  goeth  a  sharp  Sword.  Written  by  Paulina  Bates,  at 
Watervliet,  1ST.  Y.,  United  States  of  America ;  arranged  and 
prepared  for  the  Press  at  New  Lebanon,  K  Y.  Published  by 
the  United  Society  called  Shakers.  Printed  at  Canterbury, 
N".  H.,  1849."  This  book  contains  718  pages ;  and  pretends  also 
to  be  a  series  of  revelations  by  angels  and  deceased  persons  of 
note.  In  the  Preface  by  the  editors  its  origin  is  thus  described : 

"  During  a  number  of  years  past  many  remarkable  displays  of  divine 
power  and  heavenly  gifts  have  been  manifested  among  the  children  of 
Zion  in  all  the  branches  of  the  United  Society  of  Believers  in  the  second 
appearing  of  Christ.  Much  increasing  light  has  been  revealed  on  many 
subjects  which  have  heretofore  remained  as  mysteries ;  and  many  prophet- 
ic revelations  have  been  brought  forth,  from  time  to  time,  through  mes- 
sengers chosen  and  inspired  by  heavenly  power  and  wisdom. 

"  Among  these  it  has  pleased  God  to  select  a  female  of  the  United  So- 
ciety at  Wisdom's  Valley  (Watervliet),  and  indue  her  with  the  heavenly 
light  of  revelation  as  an  instrument  of  divine  Wisdom,  to  write  by  divine 


The  Shakers.  249 


inspiration  those  solemn  warnings,  prophetic  revelations,  and  heavenly 
instructions  which  will  be  found  extensively  diffused  through  the  sacred 
pages  of  this  book. 

"  These  were  written  in  a  series  of  communications  at  various  times 
during  the  year  1841,  '42,  '43,  and  '44,  with  few  exceptions,  which  will  be 
seen  by  their  several  dates.  But  the  inspired  writer  had  no  knowledge 
that  they  were  designed  by  the  Divine  Spirit  to  be  published  to  the  world 
until  a  large  portion  of  the  work  was  written ;  therefore,  whenever  she 
was  called  upon  by  the  angel  of  God,  she  wrote  whatever  the  angel  dicta- 
ted at  the  time,  without  any  reference  to  the  connective  order  and  regular 
arrangement  of  a  book ;  for  she  was  not  directed  so  to  do,  for  reasons  which 
were  afterwards  revealed  to  her  and  other  witnesses  then  unknown  to  her. 

"  Hence  it  was  made  known  to  be  the  design  of  the  Divine  Spirit  that 
these  communications  should  be  transmitted  to  the  Holy  Mount  (New 
Lebanon),  there  to  be  prepared  for  publication  by  agents  appointed  for 
that  purpose,  in  union  with  the  leading  authority  of  the  Church.  Ac- 
cordingly they  were  conveyed  to  New  Lebanon,  and  the  subscribers  were 
appointed  as  editors,  to  examine  and  arrange  them  in  regular  and  con- 
venient order  for  the  press,  and  divine  instructions  were  given  for  that 
purpose. 

"  Having  therefore  faithfully  examined  the  manuscripts  containing  these 
communications,  we  have  compiled  them  into  one  book,  in  two  general 
divisions  or  volumes,  agreeably  to  the  instructions  given.  We  have  also, 
for  convenient  arrangement,  divided  the  whole  into  seven  parts,  accord- 
ing to  the  relative  connection  which  appeared  in  the  different  subjects. 
And  for  the  convenience  of  the  reader  we  have  divided  each  part  into 
chapters,  prefixing  an  appropriate  title  to  each. 

"  Some  passages  and  annotations  have  been  added  by  The  Angel  of 
Prophetic  Light,  who  by  inspiration  has  frequently  assisted  in  the  prepa- 
ration and  arrangement  of  the  work,  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  and 
confirming  some  of  the  original  subjects  by  further  explanations.  A  few 
notes  have  also  been  added  by  the  editors  for  the  information  of  the 
reader.  These  are  all  distinguished  in  their  proper  places  from  the  origi- 
nal matter. 

"  But  although  it  was  found  necessary  to  transcribe  the  whole,  in  order 
to  prepare  it  properly  and  intelligibly  for  the  press,  yet  we  have  used 
great  care  to  preserve  the  sense  of  the  original  in  its  purity ;  and  we  can 
testify  that  the  substance  and  spirit  of  the  work  have  been  conscientiously 
preserved  in  full  throughout  the  whole. 

s 


250     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"  This  work  is  called '  Holy  Wisdom's  Book,'  because  Holy  and  Eternal 
"Wisdom  is  the  Mother,  or  Bearing  Spirit,  of  all  the  works  of  God ;  and 
because  it  was  especially  revealed  through  the  line  of  the  female,  being 
WISDOM'S  Likeness ;  and  she  lays  special  claim  to  this  work,  and  places  her 
seal  upon  it. 

"  An  Appendix  is  added,  containing  the  testimonies  of  various  divine 
and  heavenly  witnesses  to  the  sacred  truth  and  reality  of  the  declarations 
and  revelations  contained  in  the  work.  The  most  of  these  were  given 
before  the  inspired  writers  who  received  them  had  any  earthly  knowledge 
concerning  the  book  or  its  contents.  A  testimony  is  also  affixed  to  the 
work  by  the  elders  of  the  family  in  which  the  inspired  writer  resides, 
bearing  witness  to  the  honesty  and  uprightness  of  her  character,  and  her 
faithfulness  in  the  work  of  God." 

The  main  object  of  the  book  is  to  warn  sinners  of  all  kinds 
from  the  "wrath  to  come."  Especial  woes,  by  the  way,  are 
denounced  against  slaveholders  and  slavetraders :  "Whether 
they  be  clothed  in  tenements  of  clay,  or  whether  they  be 
stripped  of  their  earthly  tabernacles,  the  same  hand  of  Justice 
shall  meet  them  whithersoever  they  flee."  It  must  be  remem- 
bered to  the  honor  of  the  Shakers  that  they  have  always  and 
every  where  consistently  opposed  human  slavery. 

The  "Divine  Book  of  Holy  Wisdom"  contains  the  "testi- 
monies "  of  the  "  first  man,  Adam,"  of  the  "  first  woman, 
Eve,"  of  Noah  and  all  the  patriarchs,  and  of  a  great  many 
other  ancient  worthies;  but,  alas!  what  they  have  to  say  is  not 
new,  and  of  no  interest  to  the  unregenerate  reader. 

These  two  volumes  are  not  now,  as  formerly,  held  in  honor  by 
the  Shakers.  One  of  their  elders  declared  to  me  that  I  ought 
never  to  have  seen  them,  and  that  their  best  use  was  to  burn 
them.  But  I  found  them  on  the  table  of  the  visitors'  room  in 
one  or  two  of  the  Western  societies,  and  I  suppose  they  are  still 
believed  in  by  some  of  the  people. 

At  this  day  most  (but  not  all)  of  the  Shaker  people  are  sin- 
cere believers  in  what  is  commonly  called  Spiritualism.  At  a 
Shaker  funeral  I  have  heard  what  purported  to  be  a  message 


The  Shakers.  251 


from  the  spirit  whose  body  was  lying  in  the  coffin  in  the  ad- 
joining hall.  In  one  of  the  societies  it  is  believed  that  a  mag- 
nificent spiritual  city,  densely  inhabited,  and  filled  with  pal- 
aces and  fine  residences,  lies  upon  their  domain,  and  at  but  a 
little  distance  from  the  terrestrial  buildings  of  the  Church  fam- 
ily ;  and  frequent  communications  come  from  this  spirit  city 
to  their  neighbors.  "  When  I  was  a  little  girl,  I  desired  very 
much  to  have  a  hymn  sent  through  me  to  the  family  from  the 
spirit-land ;  and  after  waiting  and  wishing  for  a  long  time,  one 
day  when  I  was  little  expecting  it,  as  I  was  walking  about,  a 
hymn  came  to  me  thus,  to  my  inexpressible  delight " — so  said  a 
Shaker  eldress  to  me  in  all  seriousness.  "  We  have  frequently 
been  visited  by  a  tribe  of  Indians  (spirits  of  Indians),  who  used 
to  live  in  this  country,  and  whose  spirits  still  come  back  here 
occasionally,"  said  another  Shaker  sister  to  me. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  I  asked  one  of  the  elders  how  far 
he  believed  that  their  hymns  are  inspired,  he  asked  me  whether 
it  did  not  happen  that  I  wrote  with  greater  facility  at  one 
time  than  at  another;  and  when  I  replied  in  the  affirmative, 
he  said,  "  In  that  case  I  should  say  you  were  inspired  when 
your  words  come  readily,  and  to  that  degree  I  suppose  our 
hymn- writers  are  inspired.  They  have  thought  about  the  sub- 
ject, and  the  words  at  last  come  to  them." 

I  think  I  have  before  said  that  the  Shakers  do  not  attempt 
to  suppress  discussion  of  the  relations  of  the  sexes ;  they  do  not 
pretend  that  their  celibate  life  is  without  hardships  or  difficul- 
ties ;  but  they  boldly  assert  that  they  have  chosen  the  better 
life,  and  defend  their  position  with  not  a  little  skill  against 
all  attacks.  A  good  many  years  ago  Miss  Charlotte  Cushman, 
after  a  visit  to  Watervliet,  wrote  the  following  lines,  which 
were  published  in  the  Knickerbocker  Magazine : 

"  Mysterious  worshipers ! 
Are  you  indeed  the  things  you  seem  to  be, 
Of  earth — yet  of  its  iron  influence  free — 


252     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 


From  all  that  stirs 

Our  being's  pulse,  and  gives  to  fleeting  life 
What  well  the  Hun  has  termed  "the  rapture  of  the  strife?" 

"  Are  the  gay  visions  gone, 

Those  day-dreams  of  the  mind,  by  fate  there  flung, 
And  the  fair  hopes  to  which  the  soul  once  clung, 

And  battled  on; 

Have  ye  outlived  them?    Ail  that  must  have  sprung, 
And  quickened  into  life,  when  ye  were  young  ? 

"Does  memory  never  roam 
To  ties  that,  grown  with  years,  ye  idly  sever, 
To  the  old  haunts  that  ye  have  left  forever — 

Your  early  homes? 

Your  ancient  creed,  once  faith's  sustaining  lever, 
The  loved  who  erst  prayed  with  you — now  may  never? 

"Has  not  ambition's  paean 
Some  power  within  your  hearts  to  wake  anew 
To  deeds  of  higher  emprise — worthier  you, 

Ye  monkish  men, 

Than  may  be  reaped  from  fields?    Do  ye  not  rue 
The  drone-like  course  of  life  ye  now  pursue  ? 

"The  camp — the  council — all 
That  woos  the  soldier  to  the  field  of  fame — 
That  gives  the  sage  his  meed — the  bard  his  name 

And  coronal — 

Bidding  a  people's  voice  their  praise  proclaim ; 
Can  ye  forego  the  strife,  nor  own  your  shame  ? 

"Have  ye  forgot  your  youth, 
When  expectation  soared  on  pinions  high, 
And  hope  shone  out  on  boyhood's  cloudless  sky, 

Seeming  all  truth — 

When  all  looked  fair  to  fancy's  ardent  eye, 
And  pleasure  wore  an  air  of  sorcery  ? 

"  You,  too  !    What  early  blight 
Has  withered  your  fond  hopes,  that  ye  thus  stand, 
A  group  of  sisters,  'mong  this  monkish  band  ? 


The  Shakers.  253 


Ye  creatures  bright! 

Ras  sorrow  scored  your  brows  with  demon  hand, 
Or  o'er  your  hopes  passed  treachery's  burning  brand? 

"Ye  would  have  graced  right  well 
The  bridal  scene,  the  banquet,  or  the  bowers 
Where  mirth  and  revelry  usurp  the  hours — 

Where,  like  a  spell, 

Beauty  is  sovereign — where  man  owns  its  powers, 
And  woman's  tread  is  o'er  a  path  of  flowers. 

"Yet  seem  ye  not  as  those 
Within  whose  bosoms  memories  vigils  keep: 
Beneath  your  drooping  lids  no  passions  sleep; 

And  your  pale  brows 
Bear  not  the  tracery  of  emotion  deep — 
Ye  seem  too  cold  and  passionless  to  weep !" 

A  "  Shaker  Girl,"  in  one  of  the  Kentucky  societies,  publish- 
ed soon  afterward  the  following  "  Answer  to  Charlotte  Gush- 
man,"  which  is  certainly  not  without  spirit : 

"  We  are,  indeed,  the  things  we  seem  to  be, 
Of  earth,  and  from  its  iron  influence  free : 
For  we  are  they,  or  halt,  or  lame,  or  dumb, 
4  On  whom  the  ends  of  this  vain  world  are  come.' 

We  have  outlived  those  day-dreams  of  the  mind — 
Those  flattering  phantoms  which  so  many  bind; 
All  man-made  creeds  (your  'faith's  sustaining  lever') 
We  have  forsaken,  and  have  left  forever ! 

To  plainly  tell  the  truth,  we  do  not  rue 
The  sober,  godly  course  that  we  pursue ; 
But  'tis  not  we  who  live  the  dronish  lives, 
But  those  who  have  their  husbands  or  their  wives ! 
But  if  by  drones  you  mean  they're  lazy  men, 
Then,  Charlotte  Cushman,  take  it  back  again ; 
For  one,  with  half  an  eye,  or  half  a  mind, 
Can  there  see  industry  and  wealth  combined. 

If  camps  and  councils — soldiers'  '  fields  of  fame1 — 
Or  yet  a  people's  praise  or  people's  blame, 


254     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Is  all  that  gives  the  sage  or  bard  his  name, 
We  can  '  forego  the  strife,  nor  own  our  shame.' 

What  great  temptations  you  hold  up  to  view 
For  men  of  sense  or  reason  to  pursue ! 
The  praise  of  mortals ! — what  can  it  avail, 
When  all  their  boasted  language  has  to  fail  ? 

And  '  sorrow  hath  not  scored  with  demon  hand,1 
Nor  '  o'er  our  hopes  pass'd  treachery's  burning  brand ;' 
But  where  the  sorrows  and  the  treachery  are, 
I  think  may  easily  be  made  appear. 
In  *  bridal  scenes,'  in  '  banquets  and  in  bowers !' 
'Mid  revelry  and  variegated  flowers, 
Is  where  your  mother  Eve  first  felt  their  powers. 
The  '  bridal  scenes,'  you  say,  '  we'd  grace  right  well !? 
'Lang  syne'  there  our  first  parents  blindly  fell ! — 
The  bridal  scene!    Is  this  your  end  and  aim? 
And  can  you  this  pursue,  '  nor  own  your  shame  ?' 
If  so — weak,  pithy,  superficial  thing — 
Drink,  silent  drink  the  sick  hymeneal  spring. 

'  The  bridal  scene !   the  banquet  or  the  bowers, 
Or  woman's  [bed  of  thorns,  or]  path  of  flowers,' 
Can't  all  persuade  our  souls  to  turn  aside 
To  live  in  filthy  lust  or  cruel  pride. 

Alas !   your  path  of  flowers  will  disappear ; 
E'en  now  a  thousand  thorns  are  pointed  near ; 
Ah  !   here  you  find  '  base  treachery's  burning  brand,' 
And  sorrows  score  the  heart,  nor  spare  the  hand ; 
But  here  *  Beauty's  sovereign ' — so  say  you — 
A  thing  that  in  one  hour  may  lose  its  hue — 
It  lies  upon  the  surface  of  the  skin — 
Aye,  Beauty's  self  was  never  worth  a  pin ; 
But  still  it  suits  the  superficial  mind — 
The  slight  observer  of  the  human  kind ; 
The  airy,  fleety,  vain,  and  hollow  thing, 
That  only  feeds  on  wily  flattering. 
'  Man  owns  its  powers  ?'    And  what  will  not  man  own 
To  gain  his  end — to  captivate — dethrone  ? 
The  truth  is  this,  whatever  he  may  feign, 
You'll  find  your  greatest  loss  his  greatest  gain ; 


The  Shakers.  255 


For  like  the  bee,  he  will  improve  the  hour, 
And  all  day  long  he'll  hunt  from  flower  to  flower, 
And  when  he  sips  the  sweetness  all  away, 
For  aught  he  cares,  the  flowers  may  all  decay. 
But  here,  each  other's  virtues  we  partake, 
Where  men  and  women  all  their  ills  forsake : 
True  virtue  spreads  her  bright  angelic  wing, 
While  saints  and  seraphs  praise  the  Almighty  King. 
And  when  the  matter's  rightly  understood, 
You'll  find  we  labor  for  each  other's  good ; 
This,  Charlotte  Cushman,  truly  is  our  aim — 
Can  you  forego  this  strife,  '  nor  own  your  shame  ?' 

Now  if  you  would  receive  a  modest  hint, 
You'd  surely  keep  your  name  at  least  from  print ; 
Nor  have  it  hoisted,  handled  round  and  round, 
And  echoed  o'er  the  earth  from  mound  to  mound, 

As  the  great  advocate  of (Oh,  the  name !). 

Now  can  you  think  of  this, '  nor  own  your  shame  ?' 

But,  Charlotte,  learn  to  take  a  deeper  view 
Of  what  your  neighbors  say  or  neighbors  do ; 
And  when  some  flattering  knaves  around  you  tread, 
Just  think  of  what  a  SHAKER  GIRL  has  said." 

The  Shaker  and  Shaker  ess,  a  monthly  journal,  edited  by 
Elder  Frederick  Evans  and  Eldress  Antoinette  Doolittle,  is  the 
organ  of  the  society ;  and  in  its  pages  their  views  are  set  forth 
with  much  shrewdness  and  ability.  It  is  not  so  generally  in- 
teresting a  journal  as  the  Oneida  Circular,  the  organ  of  the 
Perfectionists,  because  the  Shakers  concern  themselves  almost 
exclusively  with  religious  matters,  and  give  in  their  paper  but 
few  details  of  their  daily  and  practical  life. 


256     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 


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THE  PERFECTIONISTS 


OP 


ONEIDA    AND    WALLINGFORD. 


THE  PERFECTIONISTS  OF  ONEIDA 
AND  WALLINGFORD. 


I. — HISTORICAL. 

THE  Oneida  and  Wallingford  Communists  are  of  American 
origin,  and  their  membership  is  almost  entirely  American. 

Their  founder,  who  is  still  their  head,  John  Humphrey 
Noyes,  was  born  in  Brattleboro,  Yermont,  in  1811,  of  respect- 
able parentage.  He  graduated  from  Dartmouth  College,  began 
the  study  of  the  law,  but  turned  shortly  to  theology;  and 
studied  first  at  Andover,  with  the  intention  of  fitting  himself 
to  become  a  foreign  missionary,  and  later  in  the  Yale  theo- 
logical school.  At  Kew  Haven  he  came  under  the  influence 
of  a  zealous  revival  preacher,  and  during  his  residence  there 
he  "  landed  in  a  new  experience  and  new  views  of  the  way  of 
salvation,  which  took  the  name  of  Perfectionism." 

This  was  in  1834.  He  soon  returned  to  Putney,  in  Yermont, 
where  his  father's  family  then  lived,  and  where  his  father  was 
a  banker.  There  he  preached  and  printed;  and  in  1838 
married  Harriet  A.  Holton,  the  granddaughter  of  a  member 
of  Congress,  and  a  convert  to  his  doctrines. 

He  slowly  gathered  about  him  a  small  company  of  believers, 
drawn  from  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  with  their  help 
made  known  his  new  faith  in  various  publications,  with  such 
effect  that  though  in  1847  he  had  only  about  forty  persons  in 
his  own  congregation,  there  appear  to  have  been  small  gather- 
ings of  "  Perfectionists  "  in  other  states,  in  correspondence  with 
Noyes,  and  inclined  to  take  him  as  their  leader. 


260     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Originally  Noyes  was  not  a  Communist,  but  when  his  thoughts 
turned  in  that  direction  he  began  to  prepare  his  followers  for 
communal  life ;  in  1845  he  made  known  to  them  his  peculiar 
views  of  the  relations  of  the  sexes,  and  in  1846  the  society  at 
Putney  began  cautiously  an  experiment  in  communal  living. 

Their  views,  which  they  never  concealed,  excited  the  hostil- 
ity of  the  people  to  such  a  degree  that  they  were  mobbed  and 
driven  out  of  the  place;  and  in  the  spring  of  1848  they  joined 
some  persons  of  like  faith  and  practice  at  Oneida,  in  Madison 
County,  New  York.  Here  they  began  community  life  anew, 
on  forty  acres  of  land,  on  which  stood  an  un painted  frame 
dwelling-house,  an  abandoned  Indian  hut,  and  an  old  Indian 
saw-mill.  They  owed  for  this  property  two  thousand  dollars. 
The  place  was  neglected,  without  cultivation,  and  the  people 
were  so  poor  that  for  some  time  they  had  to  sleep  on  the  floor 
in  the  garret  which  was  their  principal  sleeping-chamber. 

The  gathering  at  Oneida  appears  to  have  been  the  signal  for 
several  attempts  by  followers  of  Noyes  to  establish  themselves 
in  communes.  In  1849  a  small  society  was  formed  in  Brook- 
lyn, K  Y.,  to  which  later  the  printing  for  all  the  societies  was 
intrusted.  In  1850  another  community  was  begun  at  Walling- 
ford,  in  Connecticut.  There  were  others,  of  which  I  find  no 
account ;  but  all  regarded  Oneida  as  their  centre  and  leader ; 
and  in  the  course  of  time,  and  after  various  struggles,  all  were 
drawn  into  the  common  centre,  except  that  at  Wallingford, 
which  still  exists  in  a  flourishing  condition,  having  its  property 
and  other  interests  in  common  with  Oneida. 

The  early  followers  of  Noyes  were  chiefly  New  England 
farmers,  the  greater  part  of  whom  brought  with  them  some 
means,  though  not  in  any  single  case  a  large  amount.  Noyes 
himself  and  several  other  members  contributed  several  thou- 
sand dollars  each,  and  a  "  Property  Kegister  "  kept  from  the 
beginning  of  the  community  experiment  showed  that  up  to 
the  first  of  January,  1857,  the  members  of  all  the  associated 


J.  H.  NOTES,  FOUNDER  OF  THE  PERFECTIONISTS. 


The  Perfectionists.  261 

communes  had  brought  in  the  considerable  amount  of  one 
hundred  and  seven  thousand  seven  hundred  and  six  dollars. 
I  understand,  however,  that  this  sum  was  not  at  any  one  time 
in  hand,  and  that  much  of  it  came  in  several  years  after  the 
settlement  at  Oneida  in  1848 ;  and  it  is  certain  that  in  the  early 
days,  while  they  were  still  seeking  for  some  business  which 
should  be  at  the  same  time  agreeable  to  them  and  profitable, 
they  had  sometimes  short  commons.  They  showed  great  cour- 
age and  perseverance,  for  through  all  their  early  difficulties 
they  maintained  a  printing-office  and  circulated  a  free  paper. 

At  first  they  looked  toward  agriculture  and  horticulture  as 
their  main-stays  for  income;  but  they  began  soon  to  unite 
other  trades  with  these.  Their  saw  mill  sawed  lumber  for  the 
neighboring  farmers ;  they  set  up  a  blacksmith  shop,  and  here, 
besides  other  work,  they  began  to  make  traps  by  hand,  having 
at  first  no  means  to  buy  machinery,  and  indeed  having  to  in- 
vent most  of  that  which  they  now  use  in  their  extensive  trap 
shop. 

Like  the  Shakers  with  their  garden  seeds,  and  all  other  suc- 
cessful communities  with  their  products,  the  Perfectionists  got 
their  start  by  the  excellence  of  their  workmanship.  Their 
traps  attracted  attention  because  they  were  more  uniformly 
well  made  than  others ;  and  thus  they  built  up  a  trade  which 
has  become  very  large.  They  raised  small  fruits,  made  rustic 
furniture,  raised  farm  crops,  sold  cattle,  had  at  one  time  a  sloop 
on  the  Hudson;  and  Noyes  himself  labored  as  a  blacksmith, 
farmer,  and  in  many  other  employments. 

Working  thus  under  difficulties,  they  had  sunk,  by  January, 
1857,  over  forty  thousand  dollars  of  their  capital,  but  had 
gained  valuable  experience  in  the  mean  time.  They  had  con- 
centrated all  their  people  at  Oneida  and  Wallingf  ord ;  and  had 
set  up  some  machinery  at  the  former  place.  In  January,  1857, 
they  took  their  first  annual  inventory,  and  found  themselves 
worth  a  little  over  sixty-seven  thousand  dollars.  Their  perse- 


262     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

verance  had  conquered  fortune,  for  in  the  next  ten  years  the 
net  profit  of  the  two  societies  amounted  to  one  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty  dollars,  according  to 
this  statement : 


Net  earnings  in  1857. . .  ..$5,470  11 

"         "         1858 1,763  60 

1859 10,278  38 

"         1860 15,611  03 

"        "         1861 5,877  89 


Net  earnings  in  1862. ..  .$9,859  78 
"  "  1863.... 44,755  30 
"  "  1864.... 61,382  62 
"  "  1865....  12,382  81 
1866....  13,198  74 


u  u 


During  this  time  they  made  traps,  traveling-bags  and  satch- 
els, mop-holders,  and  various  other  small  articles,  and  put  up 
preserved  fruits  in  glass  and  tin.  They  began  at  Wallingford, 
in  1851,  making  match-boxes,  and  the  manufacture  of  travel- 
ing-bags was  begun  in  Brooklyn,  and  later  transferred  to 
Oneida.  Trap-making  was  begun  at  Oneida  in  1855  ;  fruit- 
preserving  in  1858,  and  in  1866  the  silk  manufacture  was  es- 
tablished. 

Meantime  they  bought  land,  until  they  have  in  1874, 
near  Oneida,  six  hundred  and  fifty-four  acres,  laid  out  in  or- 
chards, vineyards,  meadows,  pasture  and  wood  land,  and  in- 
cluding several  valuable  water-powers;  and  at  Wallingford 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  mainly  devoted  to  grazing  and 
the  production  of  small  fruits.  They  have  erected  in  both 
places  commodious  and  substantial  dwellings  and  shops,  and 
carry  on  at  this  time  a  number  of  industries,  of  which  some 
account  will  be  found  further  on. 

The  two  communities,  whose  members  are  interchangeable 
at  will  and  whenever  necessity  arises,  must  be  counted  as  one. 
At  Oneida  they  have  founded  a  third,  on  a  part  of  their  land, 
called  Willow  Place,  but  this  too  is  but  an  offshoot  of  the  cen- 
tral family.  In  February,  1874,  they  numbered  two  hundred 
and  eighty-three  persons,  of  whom  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  were  at  Oneida  and  Willow  Place,  and  forty-five  at  Wal- 
lingford. Of  these  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  wTere  males, 


The  Perfectionists.  263 

and  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  females.  Of  the  whole  num- 
ber, sixty-four  were  children  and  youth  under  twenty-one — 
thirty-three  males  and  thirty-one  females.  Of  the  two  hun- 
dred and  nineteen  adults,  one  hundred  and  five  were  over  forty- 
five  years  of  age — forty-four  men  and  sixty-one  women. 

They  employ  in  both  places  from  twenty  to  thirty -five  farm 
laborers,  according  to  the  season,  and  a  number  of  fruit-pickers 
in  the  time  of  small  fruits.  Besides,  at  Oneida  they  employ 
constantly  two  hundred  and  one  hired  laborers,  of  whom  one 
hundred  and  three  are  women,  seventy-five  of  whom  work  in 
the  silk  factory  ;  sixty-seven  of  the  men  being  engaged  in  the 
trap  works,  foundry,  and  machine  shops.  At  Wallingford  the 
silk  works  give  employment  to  thirty-five  hired  women  and  girls. 

Originally,  and  for  many  years,  these  Communists  employed 
no  outside  labor  in  their  houses ;  but  with  increasing  prosper- 
ity they  have  begun  to  hire  servants  and  helpers  in  many 
branches.  Thus  at  Oneida  there  are  in  the  laundry  two  men 
and  five  women ;  in  the  kitchen  three  men  and  seven  women ; 
in  the  heating  or  furnace  room  two  men ;  in  the  shoemaker's 
shop  two ;  and  in  the  tailor's  shop  two — all  hired  people.  At 
Wallingford  they  hire  three  women  and  one  man  for  their 
laundry. 

These  hired  people  are  the  country  neighbors  of  the  com- 
mune ;  and,  as  with  the  Shakers  and  the  Harmonists,  they 
like  their  employers.  These  pay  good  wages,  and  treat  their 
servants  kindly ;  looking  after  their  physical  and  intellectual 
well-being,  building  houses  for  such  of  them  as  have  families 
and  need  to  be  near  at  hand,  and  in  many  ways  showing  in- 
terest in  their  welfare. 

The  members  of  the  two  societies  are  for  the  most  part 
Americans,  though  there  are  a  few  English  and  Canadians. 
There  are  among  them  lawyers,  clergymen,  merchants,  physi- 
cians, teachers ;  but  the  greater  part  were  New  England  farm- 
ers and  mechanics.  Former  Congregationalists  and  Presbyte- 

T 


264     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

rians,  Episcopalians,  Methodists,  and  Baptists  are  among  them 
— but  no  Catholics. 

They  have  a  great  number  of  applications  from  persons 
desirous  to  become  members.  During  1873  they  received 
over  one  hundred  such  by  letter,  besides  a  nearly  equal  num- 
ber made  in  person.  They  are  not  willing  now  to  accept  new 
members ;  but  I  believe  they  are  looking  about  for  a  place 
suitable  for  a  new  settlement,  and  would  not  be  unwilling,  if 
a  number  of  persons  with  sufficient  means  for  another  colony 
should  present  themselves,  to  help  them  with  teachers  and 
guides. 

In  the  year  1873  the  Oneida  Community  produced  and  sold 
preserved  fruits  to  the  value  of  $27,417;  machine  and  sewing 
silk  and  woven  goods  worth  $203,784 ;  hardware,  including 
traps,  chucks,  silk-measuring  machines  and  silk-strength  testers 
(the  last  two  of  their  own  invention),  gate-hinges  and  foundry 
castings,  $90,447.  They  raised  twenty-five  acres  of  sweet  corn, 
six  acres  of  tomatoes,  two  acres  of  strawberries,  two  of  rasp- 
berries ;  half  an  acre  of  currants,  half  an  acre  of  grapes,  twen- 
ty-two acres  of  apples,  and  three  and  a  half  acres  of  pears. 

Silk-weaving  has  been  abandoned,  as  not  suitable  to  them. 

At  the  beginning  of  1874  they  were  worth  over  half  a  mill- 
ion of  dollars. 

From  the  beginning,  Noyes  and  his  followers  have  made 
great  use  of  the  press.  Up  to  the  time  of  their  settlement 
at  Oneida  they  had  published  "  Paul  not  Carnal ;"  two  series 
of  The  Perfectionist;  The  Way  of  Holiness,  the  Berean, 
and  The  Witness.  From  Oneida  they  began  at  once  to  issue 
the  Spiritual  Magazine,  and,  later,  the  Free  Church  Circu- 
lar, which  was  the  beginning  of  their  present  journal,  the 
Oneida  Circular.  "  Bible  Communism "  also  was  published 
at  Oneida  during  the  first  year  of  their  settlement  there.  They 
did  not  aim  to  make  money  by  their  publications,  and  the  Cir- 
cular was  from  the  first  published  on  terms  probably  unlike 


The  Perfectionists.  265 

those  of  any  other  newspaper  in  the  world.  I  take  from  an 
old  number,  of  the  year  1853,  the  following  announcement, 
standing  at  the  head  of  the  first  column : 

"  The  Circular  is  published  by  Communists,  and  for  Communists.  Its 
main  object  is  to  help  the  education  of  several  confederated  associations, 
who  are  practically  devoted  to  the  Pentecost  principle  of  community  of 
property.  Nearly  all  of  its  readers  outside  of  those  associations  are  Com- 
munists in  principle.  It  is  supported  almost  entirely  by  the  free  contri- 
butions of  this  Communist  constituency.  A  paper  with  such  objects  and 
such  resources  can  not  properly  be  offered  for  sale.  Freely  we  receive, 
and  we  freely  give.  Whoever  wishes  to  read  the  Circular  can  have  it 
WITHOUT  PAYING,  OR  PROMISING  TO  PAY,  by  applying  through  the  mail, 
or  at  43'Willow  Place,  Brooklyn.  If  any  one  chooses  to  pay,  he  may  send 
TWO  DOLLARS  for  the  yearly  volume ;  but  he  must  not  require  us  to  keep 
his  accounts.  We  rely  on  the  free  gifts  of  the  family  circle  for  which 
we  labor." 

This  paper  was  published  on  these  terms,  at  one  time  semi- 
weekly,  and  at 'another  three  times  a  week.  For  some  years 
past  it  has  appeared  weekly,  printed  on  extremely  good  paper, 
and  an  admirable  specimen  of  typography ;  and  it  has  now  at 
the  head  of  its  columns  the  following  notice : 

"  The  Circular  is  sent  to  all  applicants,  whether  they  pay  or  not.  It 
costs  and  is  worth  at  least  two  dollars  per  volume.  Those  who  want  it 
and  ought  to  have  it  are  divisible  into  three  classes,  viz. :  1,  those  who  can 
not  afford  to  pay  two  dollars ;  2,  those  who  can  afford  to  pay  only  two 
dollars ;  and,  3,  those  who  can  afford  to  pay  more  than  two  dollars.  The 
first  ought  to  have  it  free ;  the  second  ought  to  pay  the  cost  of  it ;  and 
the  third  ought  to  pay  enough  more  than  the  cost  to  make  up  the  de- 
ficiencies of  the  first.  This  is  the  law  of  Communism.  We  have  no  means 
of  enforcing  it,  and  no  wish  to  do  so,  except  by  stating  it  and  leaving  it 
to  the  good  sense  of  those  concerned.  We  take  the  risk  of  offering  the 
Circular  to  all  without  price;  but  free  subscriptions  will  be  received 
only  from  persons  making  application  for  themselves,  either  directly  or 
by  giving  express  authority  to  those  who  apply  for  them. 

"  Foreign  subscribers,  except  those  residing  in  Canada,  must  remit  with 
their  subscriptions  money  to  prepay  the  postage." 


266     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

They  print  now  about  two  thousand  copies  per  week,  and 
lost  last  year  six  hundred  dollars  in  the  enterprise,  without 
reckoning  what  would  have  had  to  be  paid  in  any  other  work 
of  the  kind  for  literary  labor. 

A  list  of  the  works  they  have  issued  will  be  found,  with  the 
titles  of  works  issued  by  other  communistic  societies,  at  the 
end  of  the  volume. 

Aside  from  its  religious  and  communistic  teachings,  the  Cir- 
cular has  a  general  interest,  by  reason  of  articles  it  often  con- 
tains relating  to  natural  history  and  natural  scenery,  which, 
from  different  pens,  show  that  there  are  in  the  society  some 
close  observers '  of  nature,  who  have  also  the  ability  to  relate 
their  observations  and  experiences  in  excellent  English.  In 
general,  the  style  of  the  paper  is  uncommonly  good,  and  shows 
that  there  is  a  degree  of  culture  among  the  Oneida  people 
which  preserves  them  from  the  too  common  newspaper  vice  of 
fine  English. 

Their  publications  deal  with  the  utmost  frankness  with  their 
own  religious  and  social  theories  and  practices,  and  I  suppose 
it  may  be  said  that  they  aim  to  keep  themselves  and  their  doc- 
trines before  the  public.  In  this  respect  they  differ  from  all 
the  other  Communistic  societies  now  existing  in  this  country. 
That  they  are  not  without  a  sense  of  humor  in  these  efforts, 
the  following,  printed  as  advertisements  in  the  Circular,  will 
show: 

GRAND  FIRE  ANNIHILATOR !  —  AN  INVENTION  for  overcom- 
ing Evil  with  Good. 

MEEK  &  LOWLY. 

TO  JEWELERS.— A  SINGLE  PEARL  OF  GREAT  PRICE  !     This 
inestimable  Jewel  may  be  obtained  by  application  to  Jesus  Christ,  at 
the  extremely  low  price  of  "  all  that  a  man  hath  !" 

TO  BROKERS. 

WANTED.  — Any  amount  of  SHARES  OF   SECOND  -  COMING 
STOCK,  bearing  date  A.D.  70,  or  thereabouts,  will  find  a  ready 
market  and  command  a  high  premium  at  this  office. 


The  Perfectionists.  267 

ATTENTION! 

SOLDIERS  who  claim  to  have  "  fought  the  fight  of  faith"  will  find  it 
for  their  advantage  to  have  their  claims  investigated.     All  who  can 
establish  said  claim  are  entitled  to  a  bounty  land-warrant  in  the  king- 
dom of  Heaven,  and  a  pension  for  eternity. 

OOMS  TO  LET  in  the  "  Many  Mansions "  that  Christ  has  prepared 
for  those  that  love  him. 

DIRECTIONS  for  cultivating  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  may  be  obtained 
gratis,  at  MEEK  &  LOWLY'S, 

No.  1  Grace  Court. 

Practical  Reflections  on  CHRIST'S  SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT  may  be  had 
also  as  above. 

LEGAL  NOTICE.  —  Notice  is  hereby  given  that  all  claims  issued  by 
the  old  firm  of  Moses  and  Law  were  canceled  1800  years  ago.    Any 
requirement,  therefore,  to  observe  as  a  means  of  righteousness  legal  enact- 
ments bearing  date  prior  to  A.D.  70,  is  pronounced  by  us,  on  the  author- 
ity of  the  New  Testament,  a  fraud  and  imposition. 

TIHE  EYES  !  THE  EYES  ! ! — It  is  known  that  many  persons  with  two 
eyes  habitually  "  see  double."     To  prevent  stumbling  and  worse  lia- 
bilities in  such  circumstances,  an  ingenious  contrivance  has  been  invented 
by  which  the  WHOLE  BODY  is  filled  with  light.    It  is  called  the  "  SINGLE 
EYE,"  and  may  be  obtained  by  applying  to  Jesus  Christ. 

WATER-CURE  ESTABLISHMENT.  —  I  will  sprinkle  clean  water 
upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean  :  from  all  your  filthiness,  and  from 
all  your  idols,  will  I  cleanse  you.  A  new  heart  also  will  I  give  you,  and  a 
new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you :  and  I  will  take  away  the  stony  heart 
out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  a  heart  of  flesh. — Ezekiel  xxxvi., 
25,  26. 

PATENT  SIEVES.— The  series  of  sieves  for  CRITICISM  having  been 
thoroughly  tested,  are  now  offered  to  the  public  for  general  use. 
They  are  warranted  to  sift  the  tares  from  the  wheat,  and  in  all  cases  to 
discriminate  between  good  and  evil.  A  person,  after  having  passed 
through  this  series,  comes  out  free  from  the  incumbrances  of  egotism, 
pride,  etc.,  etc.  All  persons  are  invited  to  test  them  gratuitously. 

liTAGNIFICENT  RESTAURANT !— In  Mount  Zion  will  the  Lord  of 
•"-•-  hosts  make  unto  all  people  a  feast  of  fat  things,  a  feast  of  wines  on 
the  lees ;  of  fat  things  full  of  marrow,  of  wines  on  the  lees  well  refined. 
And  he  will  destroy  in  this  mountain  the  face  of  the  covering  cast  over 
all  people,  and  the  veil  that  is  spread  over  all  nations.  He  will  swallow 
up  death  in  victory ;  and  the  Lord  God  will  wipe  away  tears  from  off  all 
faces ;  and  the  rebuke  of  his  people  shall  be  taken  away  from  off  all  the 
earth :  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it. — Isaiah  xxv.,  6-8. 


268     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

PATENT  SALAMANDER  SAFES.  — Lay  not  up  for  yourselves 
treasures  upon  earth,  where  moth  and  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where 
thieves  break  through  and  steal :  but  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in 
heaven,  where  neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  do 
not  break  through  nor  steal. — Matt,  vi.,  19,  20.  This  safe,  having  been 
submitted  for  1800  years  to  the  hottest  fire  of  judgment,  and  having  been 
through  that  time  subject  to  constant  attacks  from  the  fiery  shafts  of  the 
devil,  is  now  offered  to  the  public,  with  full  confidence  that  it  will  meet 
with  general  approbation.  Articles  inclosed  in  this  safe  are  warranted 
free  from  danger  under  any  circumstances. 

TO  THE  AFFLICTED  !— WINE  and  MILK  for  the  hungry,  REST  for 
the  weary  and  heavy-laden,  CONSOLATION  and  BALM  for  the 
wounded  and  invalids  of  every  description — may  be  had  gratis,  on  appli- 
cation to  the  storehouse  of  the  Son  of  God. 

The  Circular  contains  each  week  extracts  from  journals 
kept  in  the  two  communities,  and  "  Talks  "  by  Noyes  and  oth- 
ers, with  a  variety  of  other  matter  relating  to  their  belief  and 
daily  lives. 


II. — RELIGIOUS  BELIEF  AND  FAITH  -  CUBES. 

They  call  themselves  "  Perfectionists." 

They  hold  to  the  Bible  as  the  "  text-book  of  the  Spirit  of 
truth ;"  to  "  Jesus  Christ  as  the  eternal  Son  of  God ;"  to  "  the 
apostles  and  Primitive  Church  as  the  exponents  of  the  ever- 
lasting Gospel."  They  believe  that  "the  second  advent  of 
Christ  took  place  at  the  period  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem ;"  that  "  at  that  time  there  was  a  primary  resurrection  and 
judgment  in  the  spirit  world ;"  and  "  that  the  final  kingdom 
of  God  then  began  in  the  heavens ;  that  the  manifestation  of 
that  kingdom  in  the  visible  world  is  now  approaching;  that 
its  approach  is  ushering  in  the  second  and  final  resurrection 
and  judgment;  that  a  Church  on  earth  is  now  rising  to  meet 
the  approaching  kingdom  in  the  heavens,  and  to  become  its 
duplicate  and  representative ;  that  inspiration,  or  open  com- 
munication with  God  and  the  heavens,  involving  perfect  holi- 
ness, is  the  element  of  connection  between  the  Church  on  earth 


The  Perfectionists.  269 

and  the  Church  in  the  heavens,  and  the  power  by  which  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  to  be  established  and  reign  in  the  world."* 

They  assert,  further,  that  "  the  Gospel  provides  for  complete 
salvation  from  sin  " — hence  the  name  they  assume  of  "  Per- 
fectionists." "  Salvation  from  sin,"  they  say,  "  is  the  founda- 
tion needed  by  all  other  reforms." 

"  Do  you,  then,  claim  to  live  sinless  lives  ?"  I  asked ;  and 
received  this  answer: 

"  We  consider  the  community  to  be  a  Church,  and  our  the- 
ory of  a  Christian  Church,  as  constituted  in  the  apostolic  age, 
is  that  it  is  a  school,  consisting  of  many  classes,  from  those  who 
are  in  the  lowest  degree  of  faith  to  those  who  have  attained 
the  condition  of  certain  and  eternal  salvation  from  sin.  The 
only  direct  answer,  therefore,  that  we  can  give  to  your  question 
is  that  some  of  us  claim  to  live  sinless  lives,  and  some  do  not. 
A  sinless  life  is  the  standard  of  the  community,  which  all  be- 
lieve to  be  practicable,  and  to  which  all  are  taught  to  aspire. 
Yet  we  recognize  the  two  general  classes,  which  were  charac- 
terized by  Paul  as  the  "nepiou"  and  the  "teleioi."  Our  be- 
lief is  that  a  Christian  Church  can  exist  only  when  the  "  teleioi" 
are  in  the  ascendant  and  have  control." 

In  compliance  with  my  request,  the  following  definition  of 
"  Perfectionism  "  was  written  out  for  me  as  authoritative : 

"  The  bare  doctrine  of  Perfectionism  might  be  presented  in  a 
single  sentence  thus : 

"  As  the  doctrine  of  temperance  is  total  abstinence  from  al- 
coholic drinks,  and  the  doctrine  of  anti-slavery  is  immediate 
abolition  of  human  bondage,  so  the  doctrine  of  Perfectionism 
is  immediate  and  total  cessation  from  sin. 

"  But  the  analogy  thus  suggested  between  Perfectionism  and 
two  popular  reforms  is  by  no  means  to  be  regarded  as  defining 
the  character  and  methods  of  Perfectionism.  Salvation  from 

*  Statement  in  the  Circular. 


2  70     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

sin,  as  we  understand  it,  is  not  a  system  of  duty-doing  under 
a  code  of  dry  laws,  Scriptural  or  natural ;  but  is  a  special  phase 
of  religious  experience,  having  for  its  basis  spiritual  intercourse 
with  God.  All  religionists  of  the  positive  sort  believe  in  a 
personal  God,  and  assume  that  he  is  a  sociable  being.  This 
faith  leads  them  to  seek  intercourse  with  him,  to  approach  him 
by  prayer,  to  give  him  their  hearts,  to  live  in  communion  with 
him.  These  exercises  and  the  various  states  and  changes  of 
the  inner  life  connected  with  them  constitute  the  staple  of 
what  is  commonly  called  religious  experience.  Such  experi- 
ence, of  course,  has  more  or  less  effect  on  the  character  and  ex- 
ternal conduct.  We  can  not  live  in  familiar  intercourse  with 
human  beings  without  becoming  better  or  worse  under  their 
influence ;  and  certainly  fellowship  with  God  must  affect  still 
more  powerfully  all  the  springs  of  action.  Perfectionists  hold 
that  intercourse  with  God  may  proceed  so  far  as  to  destroy 
selfishness  in  the  heart,  and  so  make  an  end  of  sin.  This  is  the 
special  phase  of  religious  experience  which  we  profess,  and  for 
which  we  are  called  Perfectionists." 

Among  other  matters,  they  hold  that  "  the  Jews  are,  by  God's 
perpetual  covenant,  the  royal  nation ;"  that  the  obligation  to 
observe  the  Sabbath  passed  away  with  the  Jewish  dispensation, 
and  is  "adverse  to  the  advance  of  man  into  new  and  true  ar- 
rangements;" that  "the  original  organization  instituted  by 
Christ  [the  Primitive  Church]  is  accessible  to  us,  and  that  our 
main  business  as  reformers  is  to  open  communication  with 
that  heavenly  body ;"  and  they  "  refer  all  their  experience  to 
the  invisible  hosts  who  are  contending  over  them." 

I  must  add,  to  explain  the  last  sentence,  that  they  are  not 
Spiritualists  in  the  sense  in  which  that  word  is  nowadays  usual- 
ly employed,  and  in  which  the  Shakers  are  Spiritualists ;  but 
they  hold  that  they  are  in  a  peculiar  and  direct  manner  under 
the  guidance  of  God  and  good  spirits.  "  Saving  faith,  accord- 
ing to  the  Bible,  places  man  in  such  a  relation  to  God  that  he 


The  Perfectionists.  271 

is  authorized  to  ask  favors  of  him  as  a  child  asks  favors  of  his 
father.  Prayer  without  expectation  of  an  answer  is  a  per- 
formance not  sanctioned  by  Scripture  nor  by  common-sense. 
But  prayer  with  expectation  of  an  answer  (that  is,  the  prayer 
of  faith)  is  impossible,  on  the  supposition  that  'the  age  of 
miracles  is  past,'  and  that  God  no  longer  interferes  with  the 
regular  routine  of  nature."  Hence  their  belief  in  what  they 
call  "  Faith-cures,"  of  which  I  shall  speak  further  on. 

Community  of  goods  and  of  persons  they  hold  to  have  been 
taught  and  commanded  by  Jesus  :  "  Jesus  Christ  offers  to  save 
men  from  all  evil — from  sin  and  death  itself ;  but  he  always 
states  it  as  a  necessary  condition  of  their  accepting  his  help 
that  they  shall  forsake  all  other;  and  particularly  that  they 
shall  get  rid  of  their  private  property."  Communism  they 
hold  therefore  to  be  "the  social  state  of  the  resurrection." 
"  The  account  on  the  sides  of  life  and  death  arranges  itself 
thus : 


APOSTASY, 

UNBELIEF, 

Obedience  to 

Mammon, 

PRIVATE  PROPERTY, 
DEATH. 


RESTORATION, 


FAITH 


Obedience  to 

Gftri*, 

COMMUNISM, 

IMMORTALITY." 


The  community  system,  which  they  thus  hold  to  have  been 
divinely  commanded,  they  extend  beyond  property — to  persons ; 
and  thus  they  justify  their  extraordinary  social  system,  in  which 
there  is  no  marriage ;  or,  as  they  put  it, "  complex  marriage 
takes  the  place  of  simple."  They  surround  this  singular  and, 
so  far  as  I  know,  unprecedented  combination  of  polygamy  and 
polyandry  with  certain  religious  and  social  restraints;  but 
affirm  that  there  is  "no  intrinsic  difference  between  prop- 
erty in  persons  and  property  in  things;  and  that  the  same 
spirit  which  abolished  exclusiveness  in  regard  to  money  would 


272      Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

abolish,  if  circumstances  allowed  full  scope  to  it,  exclusiveness 
in  regard  to  women  and  children."* 

It  is  an  extraordinary  evidence  of  the  capacity  of  mankind 
for  various  and  extreme  religious  beliefs,  that  many  men  have 
brought  their  wives  and  young  daughters  into  the  Oneida 
Community. 

They  have  no  preaching ;  do  not  use  Baptism  nor  the  Lord's 
Supper ;  do  not  observe  Sunday,  because  they  hold  that  with 
them  every  day  is  a  Sabbath ;  do  not  pray  aloud ;  and  avoid 
with  considerable  care  all  set  forms.  They  read  the  Bible 
and  quote  it  much. 

They  believe  that  the  exercise  of  sufficient  faith  in  prayer  to 
God  is  capable  of  restoring  the  sick  to  health ;  and  assert  that 
there  have  been  in  their  experience  and  among  their  member- 
ship a  number  of  such  cures.  In  a  "  Free-Church  Tract,"  dated 
"  Oneida  Reserve,  1850,"  there  is  an  account  of  such  a  cure  of 
Mrs.  M.  A.  Hall,  ill  of  consumption,  and  given  up  by  her  physi- 
cians. In  this  case  J.  H.  Noyes  and  Mrs.  Cragin  were  those 
whose  "  power  of  faith  "  was  supposed  to  have  acted ;  and  Mrs. 
Hall  herself  wrote,  two  years  later :  "  From  a  helpless,  bed-rid- 
den state,  in  which  I  was  unable  to  move,  or  even  to  be  moved 
without  excruciating  pain,  I  was  instantly  raised  to  a  con- 
sciousness of  perfect  health.  I  was  constrained  to  declare  again 
and  again  that  I  was  perfectly  well.  My  eyes,  which  before 
could  not  bear  the  light,  were  opened  to  the  blaze  of  day  and 
became  strong.  My  appetite  was  restored,  and  all  pain  re- 
moved." This  is  said  to  have  taken  place  in  June,  1847.  The 
following  case  is  reported  in  the  Circular  for  February  9th 
of  the  present  year  (1874),  and  the  description  of  the  injury, 
which  immediately  follows,  is  given  by  Dr.  Cragin — a  member 
of  the  Oneida  Community — whom  I  understand  to  be  a  regu- 
larly educated  physician.  The  sufferer  was  a  woman,  Mrs.  M. 

*  "  History  of  American  Socialisms,"  by  J.  H.  Noyes,  p.  625. 


The  Perfectionists.  273 

"  Her  hand  was  passed  between  the  rubber  rollers  of  a  wringing-ma- 
chine.  The  machine  was  new,  and  the  rollers  were  screwed  down  so  that  it 
brought  a  very  heavy  pressure  on  her  hand,  evidently  crowding  the  bones 
all  out  of  place  and  stretching  the  ligaments,  besides  seriously  injuring 
the  nerves  of  her  hand  and  arm.  When  she  came  here  from  Wallingford 
Community,  several  weeks  after  the  accident,  not  only  the  nerves  of  her 
hand  were  essentially  paralyzed,  but  the  trunk  nerve  of  her  arm  was  para- 
lyzed and  caused  her  a  great  deal  of  suffering.  It  was  as  helpless  as 
though  completely  paralyzed :  she  had  not  sufficient  control  over  her 
hand  to  bend  her  fingers. 

"  That  was  her  condition  up  to  the  time  of  the  cure.  I  could  not  see 
from  the  time  she  came  here  to  the  time  of  the  cure  that  there  was  any 
change  for  the  better.  I  told  her  the  first  time  I  examined  her  hand  that, 
according  to  the  ordinary  course  of  such  things,  she  must  not  expect  to 
get  the  use  of  it  under  twelve  months,  if  bhe  did  then.  At  the  same  time 
I  told  her  I  would  not  limit  the  power  of  God. 

"  Her  general  health  improved,  but  her  hand  caused  her  the  acutest 
suffering.  It  would  awaken  her  in  the  night,  and  oblige  her  to  get  up 
and  spend  hours  in  rubbing  it  and  trying  to  allay  the  pain.  If  any  one 
has  had  a  jumping  toothache,  he  can  imagine  something  what  her  suffer- 
ing was,  only  the  pain  extended  over  the  whole  hand  and  arm,  instead 
of  being  confined  to  one  small  place  like  a  tooth.  I  have  known  of  strong 
men  who  had  the  nervous  system  of  an  arm  similarly  affected,  who  begged 
that  their  arms  might  be  taken  off,  and  have  indeed  suffered  amputation 
rather  than  endure  the  pain. 

"  For  some  time  before  her  cure  there  had  been  considerable  talk  in  the 
family  about  faith-cures,  and  persons  had  talked  with  her  "on  the  subject, 
and  encouraged  her  to  expect  to  have  such  a  cure  as  Harriet  Hall  did. 
Finally  Mr.  Noyes's  interest  was  aroused,  and  he  invoked  a  committee  for 
her — not  so  much  to  criticise  as  to  comfort  her,  and  bring  to  bear  on  her 
the  concentrated  attention  and  faith  of  the  family.  She  was  stimulated 
by  this  criticism  to  cheerfulness  and  hope,  and  to  put  herself  into  the 
social  current,  keeping  around  as  much  as  she  could  where  there  was  the 
most  life  and  faith.  A  private  criticism  soon  after  penetrated  her  spirit, 
and  separated  her  from  a  brooding  influence  of  evil  that  she  had  come 
under  in  a  heart  affair. 

"  Still  she  suffered  with  her  hand  as  much  as  ever,  up  to  the  time  of 
her  sudden  cure.  A  few  evenings  after  this  private  criticism  we  had  a 
very  interesting  meeting,  and  she  was  present  in  the  gallery.  The  sub- 


2  74     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

ject  was  the  power  of  prayer,  and  there  was  a  good  deal  of  faith  experi- 
ence related,  and  she  appeared  the  next  morning  shaking  hands  with 
every  body  she  met.  Now  you  see  her  washing  dishes  and  making 
beds. 

"  Mrs.  A. — The  morning  she  was  cured  I  was  at  work  in  the  hall,  when 
she  came  running  toward  me,  saying, '  I'm  cured  !  I'm  cured  !'  Then  she 
shook  hands  with  me,  using  the  hand  that  had  been  so  bad,  and  giving  a 
hearty  pressure  with  it. 

"  Dr.  G. — To  show  that  the  case  is  not  one  of  imagination,  I  will  say 
that  the  day  before  the  cure  she  could  not  have  it  touched  without  suffer- 
ing pain.  She  had  not  been  dressed  for  a  week,  but  that  morning  she 
bathed  and  dressed  herself  and  made  her  bed,  and  then  went  to  Joppa. 

"  Mr.  .ZV.— She  came  down  to  Joppa  with  her  hands  all  free,  and  went 
out  on  the  ice ;  I  don't  know  that  she  caught  any  fish,  but  she  attended 
the  '  tip-ups.' 

'•''Mrs.  C. — She  said  to  me  that  she  had  attended  to  dieting  and  all  the 
prescriptions  that  were  given  her.  and  got  no  help  from  them ;  and  she 
had  made  up  her  mind  that  if  there  was  any  thing  done  for  her,  the  com- 
munity must  take  hold  and  do  it. 

"TF.  A.  H. — Let  us  be  united  about  this  case ;  and  if  it  be  imagination, 
let  us  have  more  of  it ;  and  if  it  be  the  power  of  faith,  let  us  have  more 
faith. 

"  C.  W.  H. — Was  Mrs.  M.  conscious  of  any  precise  moment  when  the  pain 
left  her  in  the  night  ? 

"Mrs.  M.  [the  person  who  was  cured]. — After  the  meeting  in  which  we 
talked  about  faith-cures,  I  went  to  my  room  and  prayed  to  God  to  take 
the  pain  out  of  my  hand,  and  told  him  if  he  did  I  would  glorify  him 
with  it.  The  pain  left  me,  and  I  could  stretch  out  my  arm  farther  than 
I  had  been  able  to  since  it  was  hurt.  I  went  to  bed,  and  slept  until  four 
o'clock  without  waking ;  then  I  awoke  and  found  I  was  not  in  pain,  and 
that  I  could  stretch  out  my  arm  and  move  my  fingers.  Then  I  thought — 
'  I  am  well.'  I  got  up,  took  a  bath,  and  dressed  myself.  After  this  my 
arm  ached  some,  but  I  said,  *  I  am  well ;  I  am  made  every  whit  whole.' 
I  kept  saying  that  to  myself,  and  the  pain  left  me  entirely.  My  arm  has 
begun  to  ache  nearly  every  day  since  then,  but  I  insist  that  I  am  well,  and 
the  pain  ceases.  That  arm  is  not  yet  as  strong  as  the  other,  but  is  im- 
proving daily. 

"Mrs.  C. — I  have  had  considerable  of  that  kind  of  experience  during 
the  last  few  years.  For  two  years  I  raised  blood  a  good  deal,  and  thought 


The  Perfectionists.  275 


a  great  many  times  that  I  was  going  to  die — could  not  get  that  idea  out 
of  my  mind.  Mrs.  M.  talked  with  me  about  it,  and  told  me  I  must  not 
give  up  to  my  imaginations.  I  was  put  into  business  two  years  ago,  and 
some  days  my  head  swam  so  that  I  could  hardly  go  about,  but  I  did 
what  was  given  me  to  do  ;  and  finally  I  came  to  a  point  in  my  experience 
where  I  said,  '  I  don't  care  if  I  do  raise  blood ;  I  am  not  going  to  be 
frightened  by  it ;  I  had  as  soon  raise  blood  as  do  any  thing  else.'  When 
I  got  there  my  trouble  left  me." 

I  have  copied  this  account  at  some  length,  because  it  speaks 
in  detail  of  a  quite  recent  occurrence,  and  shows,  in  a  charac- 
teristic way,  their  manner  of  dealing  with  disease. 

They  profess  also  to  have  wrought  cures  by  what  they  call 
"  Criticism,"  of  which  I  shall  speak  further  on. 

Concerning  their  management  of  the  intercourse  of  the  sexes, 
so  much  has  been  written,  by  themselves  and  by  others,  that  I 
think  I  need  here  say  only  that — 

1st.  They  regard  their  system  as  part  of  their  religion,  ^oyes 
said,  in  a  "  Home  Talk,"  reported  in  the  Circular,  February 
2, 1874:  "Woe  to  him  who  abolishes  the  law  of  the  apostasy 
before  he  stands  in  the  holiness  of  the  resurrection.  The  law 
of  the  apostasy  is  the  law  of  marriage ;  and  it  is  true  that 
whoever  undertakes  to  enter  into  the  liberty  of  the  resurrec- 
tion without  the  holiness  of  the  resurrection,  will  get  woe  and 
not  happiness.  It  is  as  important  for  the  young  now  as  it  was 
for  their  fathers  then,  that  the}'  should  know  that  holiness  of 
heart  is  what  they  must  have  before  they  get  liberty  in  love. 
They  must  put  the  first  thing  first,  as  I  did  and  as  their  par- 
ents did  ;  they  must  be  Perfectionists  before  they  are  Com- 
munists" He  seems  to  see,  too,  that "  complex  marriage,"  as 
he  calls  it,  is  not  without  grave  dangers  to  the  community,  for 
he  added,  in  the  same  "  Home  Talk :"  "We  have  got  into  the 
position  of  Communism,  where  without  genuine  salvation  from 
sin  our  passions  will  overwhelm  us,  and  nothing  but  confu 
sion  and  misery  can  be  expected.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have 


276     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

got  into  a  position  where,  if  we  do  have  the  grace  of  God  tri- 
umphant in  our  hearts  and  flowing  through  all  our  nature, 
there  is  an  opportunity  for  harmony  and  happiness  beyond  all 
that  imagination  has  conceived.  So  it  is  hell  behind  us,  and 
heaven  before  us,  and  a  necessity  that  we  should  march  /" 

2d.  "  Complex  marriage "  means,  in  their  practice :  that, 
within  the  limits  of  the  community  membership,  any  man 
and  woman  may  and  do  freely  cohabit,  having  first  gained 
each  other's  consent,  not  by  private  conversation  or  courtship, 
but  through  the  intervention  of  some  third  person  or  persons ; 
that  they  strongly  discourage,  as  an  evidence  of  sinful  selfish- 
ness, what  they  call  "  exclusive  and  idolatrous  attachment "  of 
two  persons  for  each  other,  and  aim  to  break  up  by  "  criti- 
cism" and  other  means  every  thing  of  this  kind  in  the  com- 
munity ;  that  they  teach  the  advisability  of  pairing  persons  of 
different  ages,  the  young  of  one  sex  with  the  aged  of  the  other, 
and  as  the  matter  is  under  the  control  and  management  of  the 
more  aged  members  it  is  thus  arranged ;  that "  persons  are  not 
obliged,  under  any  circumstances,  to  receive  the  attentions  of 
those  whom  they  do  not  like;"  and  that  the  propagation  of 
children  is  controlled  by  the  society,  which  pretends  to  conduct 
this  matter  on  scientific  principles :  "  Previous  to  about  two 
and  a  half  years  ago  we  refrained  from  the  usual  rate  of  child- 
bearing,  for  several  reasons,  financial  and  otherwise.  Since 
that  time  we  have  made  an  attempt  to  produce  the  usual  num- 
ber of  offspring  to  which  people  in  the  middle  classes  are  able 
to  afford  judicious  moral  and  spiritual  care,  with  the  advant- 
age of  a  liberal  education.  In  this  attempt  twenty-four  men 
and  twenty  women  have  been  engaged,  selected  from  among 
those  who  have  most  thoroughly  practiced  our  social  theory."* 

Finally,  they  find  in  practice  a  strong  tendency  toward 
what  they  call  "  selfish  love  " — that  is  to  say,  the  attachment 

*  "  Essay  on  Scientific  Propagation,"  by  John  Humphrey  Noyes. 


The  Perfectionists.  277 

of  two  persons  to  each  other,  and  their  desire  to  be  true  to 
each  other ;  and  there  are  here  and  there  in  their  publications 
signs  that  there  has  been  suffering  among  their  young  people 
on  this  account.  They  rebuke  this  propensity,  however,  as 
selfish  and  sinful,  and  break  it  down  rigorously 


III. — DAILY  LIFE  AKD  BUSESTESS  ADMIETSTKATIOE-. 

The  farm,  or  domain,  as  they  prefer  to  call  it,  of  the  Oneida 
Community  forms  a  part  of  the  old  Reservation  of  the  Oneida 
Indians.  It  is  a  plain,  the  land  naturally  good  and  well  wa- 
tered; and  it  has  been  industriously  improved  by  the  com- 
munists. It  lies  four  miles  from  Oneida  on  the  New  York 
Central  Railroad,  and  the  Midland  Railroad  passes  through  it. 

The  dwelling-house,  a  large  brick  building  with  some  archi- 
tectural pretensions,  but  no  artistic  merit,  stands  on  the  middle 
of  a  pleasant  lawn,  near  the  main  road.  It  has  some  exten- 
sions in  the  rear,  the  chief  of  which  is  a  large  wing  contain- 
ing the  kitchen  and  dining-room.  The  interior  of  the  house 
is  well  arranged ;  the  whole  is  warmed  by  steam ;  and  there 
are  baths  and  other  conveniences.  There  is  on  the  second 
floor  a  large  hall,  used  for  the  evening  gatherings  of  the  com- 
munity, and  furnished  with  a  stage  for  musical  and  dramatic 
performances,  and  with  a  number  of  round  tables,  about  which 
they  gather  in  their  meetings.  On  the  ground  floor  is  a  parlor 
for  visitors;  and  a  library-room,  containing  files  of  newspa- 
pers, and  a  miscellaneous  library  of  about  four  thousand  vol- 
umes. 

There  are  two  large  family  rooms,  one  on  each  story,  around 
which  a  considerable  number  of  sleeping-chambers  are  built ; 
and  the  upper  of  these  large  rooms  has  two  ranges  of  such 
dormitories,  one  above  the  other,  the  upper  range  being  reached 
by  a  gallery. 


278     Communistic  Societies  of  tJie  United  States. 

All  the  rooms  are  plainly  furnished,  there  being  neither  any 
attempt  at  costly  or  elegant  furnishing,  nor  a  striving  for 
Shaker  plainness. 

Above  the  dining-room  is  the  printing-office,  where  the  Cir- 
cular is  printed,  and  some  job  printing  is  done. 

Opposite  the  dwelling,  and  across  the  road,  are  offices,  a 
school-building,  a  lecture -room  with  a  chemical  laboratory, 
and  a  room  for  the  use  of  the  daguerreotypist  of  the  commu- 
nity ;  farther  on  to  the  right  is  a  large  carpenter's  shop,  and 
to  the  left  are  barns,  stables,  the  silk-dye  house,  and  a  small 
factory  where  the  children  of  the  community  at  odd  hours 
make  boxes  for  the  spool  silk  produced  here.  There  is  also  a 
large  and  conveniently  arranged  laundry. 

Somewhat  over  a  mile  from  the  home  place  are  the  facto- 
ries of  the  community — consisting  of  trap  works,  silk  works,  a 
forge,  and  .machine  shops.  These  are  thoroughly  fitted  with 
labor-saving  machinery,  and  are  extensive  enough  to  produce 
three  hundred  thousand  traps,  and  the  value  of  over  two  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars'  worth  of  silk-twist  in  a  year.  Near 
these  workshops  is  a  dwelling  inhabited  by  thirty  or  forty  of 
the  communists,  who  are  particularly  employed  in  the  shops. 

The  farm  has  been  put  in  excellent  order :  there  are  exten- 
sive orchards  of  large  and  small  fruits ;  and  plantations  of  orna- 
mental trees  shelter  the  lawn  about  the  dwelling.  This  lawn  is 
in  summer  a  favorite  resort  for  picnic  parties  from  a  distance. 
As  Sunday-school  picnics  are  also  brought  hither,  I  judge  that 
the  hostility  which  once  existed  in  the  neighborhood  to  the 
Oneida  Communists  has  disappeared.  Indeed,  at  Oneida  all 
with  whom  I  had  occasion  to  speak  concerning  the  commu- 
nists praised  them  for  honesty,  fair  dealing,  a  peaceable  dispo- 
sition, and  great  business  capacity. 

Their  system  of  administration  is  perfect  and  thorough. 
Their  book-keeping — in  which  women  are  engaged  as  well  as 
men,  a  young  woman  being  the  chief — is  so  systematized  that 


The  Perfectionists.  279 

they  are  able  to  know  the  profit  or  loss  upon  every  branch  of 
industry  they  pursue,  as  well  as  the  cost  of  each  part  of  their 
living. 

They  have  twenty -one  standing  committees:  on  finance; 
amusements;  patent  -  rights ;  location  of  tenant  houses;  arbi- 
tration ;  rents ;  baths,  walks,  roads,  and  lawns ;  fire ;  heating ; 
sanitary ;  education ;  clothing ;  real  estate  and  tenant  houses ; 
water- works  and  their  supplies;  painting;  forest;  water  and 
steam  power;  photographs;  hair-cutting;  arcade;  andJoppa— 
the  last  being  an  isolated  spot  on  Oneida  Lake,  to  which  they 
go  to  bathe,  fish,  shoot,  and  otherwise  ruralize. 

Besides  these,  they  divide  the  duties  of  administration  among 
forty -eight  departments:  Circular;  publication;  silk  manu- 
facture; hardware;  fruit -preserving;  paper -box;  printing; 
dyeing ;  carpentry ;  business  office ;  shoe  shop ;  library ;  pho- 
tographs; educational;  science  and  art;  laundry;  furniture; 
legal ;  subsistence ;  Wallingford  printing ;  agriculture ;  horti- 
culture; medical;  incidentals;  dentistry;  real  estate;  music- 
al; amusements;  quarry;  housekeeping;  repairs;  traveling; 
watches ;  clocks ;  tin  shop ;  porterage ;  lights ;  livery ;  cloth- 
ing; stationery;  floral;  water -works;  children's;  landscape; 
forests;  heating;  bedding;  coal. 

At  first  view  these  many  committees  and  departments  may 
appear  cumbrous ;  but  in  practice  they  work  well. 

Every  Sunday  morning  a  meeting  is  held  of  what  is  called 
a  "  Business  Board."  This  consists  of  the  heads  of  all  the  de- 
partments, and  of  whoever,  of  the  whole  community,  chooses 
to  attend.  At  this  meeting  the  business  of  the  past  week  is 
discussed ;  and  a  secretary  notes  down  briefly  any  action  deem- 
ed advisable.  At  the  Sunday-evening  meeting  the  secretary's 
report  is  read  to  all,  and  thereupon  discussed ;  and  whatever 
receives  general  or  unanimous  approval  is  carried  out. 

Once  a  year,  in  the  spring,  there  is  a  special  meeting  of  the 
Business  Board,  at  which  the  work  of  the  year  is  laid  out  in 
some  detail. 


280     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  an  inventory  is  taken  of  all 
the  possessions  of  the  community. 

Once  a  month  the  heads  of  the  departments  send  in  their 
accounts  to  the  book-keepers,  and  these  are  then  posted  in  the 
ledgers. 

It  is  a  principle  with  them  to  attempt  nothing  without  the 
general  consent  of  all  the  people;  and  if  there  is  objection 
made,  the  matter  proposed  is  put  off  for  further  discussion. 

Shortly  after  New- Year,  the  Finance  Committee  sits  and  re- 
ceives estimates.  This  means  that  each  department  sends  in 
an  estimate  of  the  money  it  will  require  for  the  coming  year. 
At  the  same  time  any  one  who  has  a  project  in  his  head  may 
propose  it,  with  an  estimate  of  its  cost.  Thereupon  the  Finance 
Committee  makes  the  necessary  appropriations,  revising  the  es- 
timates in  accordance  with  the  general  total  which  the  society 
can  afford  to  spend  for  the  year.  At  or  before  this  meeting 
the  returns  for  the  past  year  have  been  scrutinized. 

All  appointments  on  committees  are  made  for  a  year;  but 
there  is  a  committee  composed  of  men  and  women  whose  duty 
it  is  to  appoint  different  persons  to  their  work  ;  and  these  may 
change  the  employments  at  any  time.  In  practice,  the  fore- 
men of  the  manufacturing  establishments  are  not  frequently 
changed.  In  appointing  the  labor  of  the  members,  their  tastes 
as  well  as  abilities  are  consulted,  and  the  aim  is  to  make  each 
one  contented. 

The  appointment  of  so  many  committees  makes  some  one 
responsible  for  each  department,  and  when  any  thing  is  need- 
ed, or  any  fault  is  to  be  found,  the  requisition  can  be  directed 
to  a  particular  person.  Women,  equally  with  men,  serve  on 
the  committees. 

They  rise  in  the  morning  between  five  and  half -past  seven ; 
this  depending  somewhat  upon  the  business  each  is  engaged 
in.  The  children  sleep  as  long  as  they  like.  Breakfast  is 
from  eight  to  nine,  and  dinner  from  three  to  four ;  and  they 


The  Perfectionists.  281 


retire  from  half -past  eight  to  half-past  ten.  The  members  do 
not  now  work  very  hard,  as  will  appear  from  these  hours  ;  but 
they  are  steadily  industrious ;  and  as  most  of  them  superintend 
some  department,  and  all  of  them  work  cheerfully,  the  neces- 
sary amount  of  labor  is  accomplished.  Mere  drudgery  they 
nowadays  put  upon  their  hired  people. 

A  square  board,  placed  in  a  gallery  near  the  library,  tells 
at  a  glance  where  every  body  is.  It  contains  the  names  of 
the  men  and  women  at  the  side,  and  the  places  where  they  can 
be  found  at  the  head ;  and  a  peg,  which  each  one  sticks  in 
opposite  his  name,  tells  his  whereabouts  for  the  day. 

There  is  no  bell  or  other  signal  for  proceeding  to  work; 
but  each  one  is  expected  to  attend  faithfully  to  that  which  is 
given  him  or  her  to  do ;  and  here,  as  in  other  communities,  no 
difficulty  is  found  about  idlers.  Those  who  have  disagreeable 
tasks  are  more  frequently  changed  than  others.  Thus  the 
women  who  superintend  in  the  kitchen  usually  serve  but  a 
month,  but  sometimes  two  months  at  a  time. 

Children  are  left  to  the  care  of  their  mothers  until  they  are 
weaned ;  then  they  are  put  into  a  general  nursery,  under  the 
care  of  special  nurses  or  care-takers,  who  are  both  men  and 
women.  There  are  two  of  these  nurseries,  one  for  the  smaller 
children,  the  other  for  those  above  three  or  four  years  of  age, 
and  able  somewhat  to  help  themselves.  These  eat  at  the  same 
time  with  the  older  people,  and  are  seated  at  tables  by  them- 
selves in  the  general  dining-room.  The  children  I  saw  were 
plump,  and  looked  sound ;  but  they  seemed  to  me  a  little  sub- 
dued and  desolate,  as  though  they  missed  the  exclusive  love 
and  care  of  a  father  and  mother.  This,  however,  may  have 
been  only  fancy;  though  I  should  grieve  to  see  in  the  eyes 
of  my  own  little  ones  an  expression  which  I  thought  I  saw 
in  the  Oneida  children,  difficult  to  describe — perhaps  I  might 
say  a  lack  of  buoyancy,  or  confidence  and  gladness.  A  man 
or  woman  may  not  find  it  disagreeable  to  be  part  of  a  great 


282     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

machine,  but  I  suspect  it  is  harder  for  a  little  child.  How- 
ever, I  will  not  insist  on  this,  for  I  may  have  been  mistaken. 
I  have  seen,  with  similar  misgivings,  a  lot  of  little  chickens 
raised  in  an  egg-hatching  machine,  and  having  a  blanket  for 
shelter  instead  of  the  wing  of  a  mother :  I  thought  they  miss- 
ed the  cluck  and  the  vigilant  if  sometimes  severe  care  of  the 
old  hen.  But  after  all  they  grew  up  to  be  hearty  chickens, 
as  zealous  and  greedy,  and  in  the  end  as  useful  as  their  more 
particularly  nurtured  fellows. 

In  the  dining -hall  I  noticed  an  ingenious  contrivance  to 
save  trouble  to  those  who  wait  on  the  table.  The  tables  are 
round,  and  accommodate  ten  or  twelve  people  each.  There 
is  a  stationary  rim,  having  space  for  the  plates,  cups,  and 
saucers ;  and  within  this  is  a  revolving  disk,  on  which  the 
food  is  placed,  and  by  turning  this  about  each  can  help  him- 
self. 

They  do  not  eat  much  meat,  having  it  served  not  more 
than  twice  a  week.  Fruits  and  vegetables  make  up  the  greater 
part  of  their  diet.  They  use  tea,  and  coffee  mixed  with  malt, 
which  makes  an  excellent  beverage.  They  use  no  tobacco,  nor 
spirituous  liquors. 

The  older  people  have  separate  sleeping  -  chambers ;  the 
younger  usually  room  two  together. 

The  men  dress  as  people  in  the  world  do,  but  plainly,  each 
one  following  his  own  fancy.  The  women  wear  a  dress 
consisting  of  a  bodice,  loose  trousers,  and  a  short  skirt  fall- 
ing to  just  above  the  knee.  Their  hair  is  cut  just  below  the 
ears,  and  I  noticed  that  the  younger  women  usually  gave  it 
a  curl.  The  dress  is  no  doubt  extremely  convenient :  it  ad- 
mits of  walking  in  mud  or  snow,  and  allows  freedom  of  exer- 
cise ;  and  it  is  entirely  modest.  But  it  was  to  my  unaccus- 
tomed eyes  totally  and  fatally  lacking  in  grace  and  beauty. 
The  present  dress  of  women,  prescribed  by  fashion,  and  par- 
ticularly the  abominable  false  hair  and  the  preposterously 


The  Perfectionists.  283 

ugly  hats,  are  sufficiently  barbarous ;  but  the  Oneida  dress, 
which  is  so  scant  that  it  forbids  any  graceful  arrangement  of 
drapery,  seemed  to  me  no  improvement. 

As  they  have  no  sermons  nor  public  prayers,  so  they  have 
no  peculiar  mode  of  addressing  each  other.  The  men  are 
called  Mr.,  and  the  women  Miss,  except  when  they  were 
married  before  they  entered  the  society.  It  was  somewhat 

startling  to  me  to  hear  Miss  speak  about  her  baby. 

Even  the  founder  is  addressed  or  spoken  of  simply  as  Mr. 
Noyes. 

At  the  end  of  every  year  each  person  gives  into  the  Finance 
Board  a  detailed  statement  of  what  clothing  he  or  she  requires 
for  the  coming  year,  and  upon  the  aggregate  sum  is  based  the 
estimate  for  the  next  year  for  clothing.  At  the  beginning  of 
1874,  the  women  proposed  a  different  plan,  which  was  thus 
described  in  the  Circular  : 

"  In  our  last  woman's  meeting,  Mrs.  C had  a  report  to  present  for 

discussion  and  acceptance.  A  change  of  system  was  proposed.  The  plan 
that  had  been  pursued  for  several  years  was  to  have  a  certain  sum  ap- 
propriated for  clothing  in  the  beginning  of  the  year — so  much  for  men,  so 
much  for  women,  and  so  much  for  children.  Another  sum  was  set  apart 
for '  incidentals,'  a  word  of  very  comprehensive  scope.  A  woman  of  good 
judgment  and  great  patience  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  keeper  and 
distributer  of  goods,  and  another  of  like  qualifications  was  associated 
with  a  man  of  experience  in  doing  the  greater  part  of  the  buying.  Each 
woman  made  out  a  list  of  the  articles  she  needed,  and  selected  them  from 
the  goods  we  had  on  hand,  or  sent  or  went  for  them  to  our  neighboring 
merchants.  This  plan  worked  well  in  many  respects,  but  it  had  some 
disadvantages.  The  women  in  charge  had  to  be  constantly  adjusting 
and  deciding  little  matters  in  order  to  make  the  wants  coincide  with  the 
appropriated  sum.  Many  unforeseen  demands  came  in,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  year  they  inevitably  exceeded  their  bounds.  This  year  the  Cloth- 
ing Committee,  in  consultation  with  the  financiers,  proposed  to  adopt  an- 
other plan.  It  was  this :  To  appropriate  a  sum  in  the  beginning  of  the 
year  large  enough  to  cover  all  reasonable  demands,  and  then,  after  setting 
aside  special  funds  for  children's  clothing,  traveling  wardrobes,  infants' 


284     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

wardrobes  and  incidentals,  to  divide  the  remainder  into  as  many  equal 
portions  as  there  were  women  in  the  family.  Each  woman  then  assumes 
for  herself  the  responsibility  of  making  the  two  ends  meet  at  the  close  of 
the  year.  It  was  thought  it  would  be  a  great  advantage  to  each  woman, 
and  particularly  to  every  young  girl,  to  know  what  her  clothing,  from  her 
hat  to  her  shoes,  costs.  She  would  learn  economy  and  foresight,  and  feel 
a  new  interest  in  the  question  of  cost  and  payment.  The  plan,  too,  allows 
of  great  variations  in  the  way  of  making  presents  and  helping  one  another 
when  there  is  a  surplus,  or,  when  there  is  no  need,  leaving  it  untouched  in 
the  treasury.  After  due  explanations  and  discussions,  the  women  voted 
unanimously  to  try  the  new  plan." 

It  may  interest  some  readers  to  know  that  the  sum  thus  set 
aside  for  each  woman's  dress  during  the  year,  including  shoes 
and  hats,  was  thirty-three  dollars.  A  member  writes  in  ex- 
planation : 

"  Minus  the  superfluities  and  waste  of  fashion,  we  find  thirty-three  dol- 
lars a  year  plenty  enough  to  keep  us  in  good  dresses,  two  or  three  for  each 
season,  summer,  winter,  fall,  and  spring  (the  fabrics  are  not  velvets  and 
satins,  of  course — they  are  flannels  and  merinos,  the  lighter  kinds  of  worst- 
ed, various  kinds  of  prints,  and  Japanese  silk) ;  to  fill  our  drawers  with 
the  best  of  under-linen,  to  furnish  us  with  hoods  and  sun-bonnets,  beaver 
and  broadcloth  sacks,  and  a  variety  of  shawls  and  shoulder-gear,  lighter 
and  pleasanter  to  wear,  if  not  so  ingrained  with  the  degradation  of  toil 
as  the  costly  Cashmere." 

When  a  man  needs  a  suit  of  clothes,  he  goes  to  the  tailor 
and  is  measured,  choosing  at  the  same  time  the  stuff  and  the 
style  or  cut. 

There  is  a  person  called  familiarly  "  Incidentals."  To  him 
is  intrusted  a  fund  for  incidental  and  unforeseen  expenses; 
and  when  a  young  woman  wants  a  breast-pin — the  only  orna- 
ment worn — she  applies  to  "Incidentals."  When  any  one 
needs  a  watch,  he  makes  his  need  known  to  the  committee  on 
watches. 

For  the  children  they  have  a  sufficiently  good  school,  in 
which  the  Bible  takes  a  prominent  part  as  a  text-book.  The 


The  Perfectionists.  285 


young  people  are  encouraged  to  continue  their  studies,  and 
they  have  two  or  three  classes  in  history,  one  in  grammar,  and 
several  in  French,  Latin,  geology,  etc.  These  study  and  re- 
cite at  odd  times;  and  it  is  their  policy  not  to  permit  the 
young  men  and  women  to  labor  too  constantly.  The  Educa- 
tional Committee  superintends  the  evening  classes. 

They  also  cultivate  vocal  and  instrumental  music;  and 
have  several  times  sent  one  or  two  of  their  young  women 
to  New  York  to  receive  special  musical  instruction.  Also  for 
some  years  they  have  kept  several  of  their  young  men  in  the 
Yale  scientific  school,  and  in  other  departments  of  that  uni- 
versity. Thus  they  have  educated  two  of  their  members  to  be 
physicians ;  two  in  the  law ;  one  in  mechanical  engineering ; 
one  in  architecture;  and  others  in  other  pursuits.  Usually 
these  have  been  young  men  from  twenty-two  to  twenty-five 
years  of  age,  who  had  prepared  themselves  practically  before- 
hand. 

It  is  their  habit  to  change  their  young  people  from  one  em- 
ployment to  another,  and  thus  make  each  master  of  several 
trades.  The  young  women  are  not  excluded  from  this  variety; 
and  they  have  now  several  girls  learning  the  machinists'  trade, 
in  a  building  appropriated  to  this  purpose ;  and  their  instructor 
told  me  they  were  especially  valuable  for  the  finer  and  mpre 
delicate  kinds  of  lathe-work.  A  young  man  whom  they  sent 
to  the  Sheffield  scientific  school  to  study  mechanical  engineer- 
ing had  been  for  a  year  or  two  in  the  machine  shop  before  he 
went  to  Yale ;  he  is  now  at  the  head  of  the  silk  works.  Their 
student  in  architecture  had  in  the  same  way  prepared  himself 
in  their  carpenter's  shop. 

No  one  who  visits  a  communistic  society  which  has  been 
for  some  time  in  existence  can  fail  to  be  struck  with  the 
amount  of  ingenuity,  inventive  skill,  and  business  talent  devel- 
oped among  men  from  whom,  in  the  outer  world,  one  would 
not  expect  such  qualities.  This  is  true,  too,  of  the  Oneida 


286     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Communists.  They  contrived  all  the  machinery  they  use  for 
making  traps — one  very  ingenious  piece  making  the  links  for 
the  chains.  They  had  no  sooner  begun  to  work  in  silk  than 
they  invented  a  little  toy  which  measures  the  silk  thread  as 
it  is  wound  on  spools,  and  accurately  gauges  the  number  of 
yards;  and  another  which  tests  the  strength  of  silk;  and 
these  have  come  into  such  general  use  that  they  already 
make  them  for  sale. 

So,  too,  when  they  determined  to  begin  the  silk  manufacture, 
they  sent  one  of  their  young  men  and  two  women  to  work  as 
hands  in  a  well-managed  factory.  In  six  months  these  re- 
turned, having  sufficiently  mastered  the  business  to  undertake 
the  employment  and  instruction  of  hired  operatives.  Of  the 
machinery  they  use,  they  bought  one  set  and  made  all  the  re- 
mainder upon  its  pattern,  in  their  own  foundry  and  shops.  A 
young  man  who  had  studied  chemistry  was  sent  out  to  a  dye- 
house,  and  in  a  few  months  made  himself  a  competent  dyer. 
In  all  this  complicated  enterprise  they  made  so  few  mistakes 
that  in  six  months  after  they  began  to  produce  silk-twist  their 
factory  had  a  secure  reputation  in  the  market. 

It  is  their  custom  to  employ  their  people,  where  they  have 
responsible  places,  in  couples.  Thus  there  are  two  house 
stewards,  two  foremen  in  a  factory,  etc. ;  both  having  equal 
knowledge,  and  one  always  ready  to  take  the  other's  place  if 
he  finds  the  work  wearing  upon  him. 

They  seemed  to  me  to  have  an  almost  fanatical  horror  of 
forms.  Thus  -they  change  their  avocations  frequently ;  they 
remove  from  Oneida  to  Willow  Place,  or  to  Wallingford,  on 
slight  excuses ;  they  change  the  order  of  their  evening  meet- 
ings and  amusements  with  much  care ;  arid  have  changed  even 
their  meal  hours.  One  said  to  me, "  We  used  to  eat  three 
meals  a  day — now  we  eat  but  two ;  but  we  may  be  eating  five 
six  months  from  now." 

Very  few  of  their  young  people  have  left  them ;  and  some 


The  Perfectionists.  287 


who  have  gone  out  have  sought  to  return.  They  have  expelled 
but  one  person  since  the  community  was  organized.  While 
they  received  members,  they  exacted  no  probationary  period, 
but  used  great  care  before  admission.  Mr.  Noyes  said  on  this 
subject : 

"  There  has  been  a  very  great  amount  of  discrimination  and  vigilance 
exercised  by  the  Oneida  Community  from  first  to  last  in  regard  to  our 
fellowships,  and  yet  it  seems  to  me  it  is  one  of  the  greatest  miracles  that 
this  community  has  succeeded  as  it  has.  Notwithstanding  our  discrim- 
ination and  determination  to  wait  on  God  in  regard  to  those  we  receive, 
we  scarcely  have  been  saved." 

New  members  sign  a  paper  containing  the  creed,  and  also 
an  agreement  to  claim  no  wages  or  other  reward  for  their  labor 
while  in  the  community. 


III. — SUNDAY  AT  THE  ONEIDA  COMMUNITY,  WITH  SOME 
ACCOUNT  OF  "CEITICISM." 

I  was  permitted  to  spend  several  days  at  the  Oneida  Com- 
munity, among  which  was  a  Sunday. 

The  people  are  kind,  polite  to  each  other  and  to  strangers, 
cheerful,  and  industrious.  There  is  no  confusion,  and  for 
so  large  a  number  very  little  noise.  Where  two  hundred 
people  live  together  in  one  house,  order,  system,  and  punc- 
tuality are  necessary;  and  loud  voices  would  soon  become  a 
nuisance. 

I  was  shown  the  house,  the  kitchen  and  heating  arrange- 
ments, the  barns  with  their  fine  stock,  the  various  manufactur- 
ing operations ;  and  in  the  evening  was  taken  to  their  daily 
gathering,  at  which  instrumental  music,  singing,  and  conversa- 
tion engage  them  for  an  hour,  after  which  they  disperse  to  the 
private  parlors  to  amuse  themselves  with  dominoes  or  dancing. 


288     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

or  to  the  library  to  read  or  write  letters.  Cards  are  prohibited. 
The  questions  I  asked  were  freely  answered ;  and  all  the  peo- 
ple in  one  way  or  another  came  under  my  eye. 

Some  of  them  have  the  hard  features  of  toil-worn  New 
England  farmers ;  others  look  like  the  average  business-men 
of  our  country  towns  or  inland  cities ;  others  are  students,  and 
there  are  a  number  of  college-bred  men  in  the  community. 
A  fine  collection  of  birds  in  a  cabinet,  skillfully  stuffed  and 
mounted,  showed  me  that  there  is  in  the  society  a  lively  love 
of  natural  history.  The  collection  is,  I  should  think,  almost 
complete  for  the  birds  of  the  region  about  Oneida. 

The  people  seem  contented,  and  pleased  with  their  success, 
as  well  they  may  be,  for  it  is  remarkable.  They  use  good  lan- 
guage, and  the  standard  of  education  among  them  is  consider- 
ably above  the  average.  No  doubt  the  training  they  get  in 
their  evening  discussions,  and  in  the  habit  of  writing  for  a 
paper  whose  English  is  pretty  carefully  watched,  has  benefited 
them.  They  struck  me  as  matter-of-fact,  with  no  nonsense  or 
romance  about  them,  by  no  means  overworked,  and  with  a 
certain,  perhaps  for  their  place  in  life  high  average  of  culture. 
I  should  say  that  the  women  are.  inferior  to  the  men :  examin- 
ing the  faces  at  an  evening  meeting,  this  was  the  impression 
I  carried  away. 

If  I  should  add  that  the  predominant  impression  made  upon 
me  was  that  it  was  a  common-place  company,  I  might  give 
offense ;  but,  after  all, what  else  but  this  could  be  the  expression 
of  people  whose  lives  are  removed  from  need,  and  narrowly 
bounded  by  their  community;  whose  religious  theory  calls  for 
no  internal  struggles,  and,  once  within  the  community,  very 
little  self-denial ;  who  are  well-fed  and  sufficiently  amused,  and 
not  overworked,  and  have  no  future  to  fear  ?  The  greater  pas- 
sions are  not  stirred  in  such  a  life.  If  these  are  once  thorough- 
ly awakened,  the  individual  leaves  the  community. 

On  Sunday  the  first  work  is  to  sort  and  send  away  to  the 


The  Perfectionists.  289 

laundry  the  soiled  clothing  of  the  week.  After  this  comes  the 
regular  weekly  meeting  of  the  Business  Board ;  and  thereafter 
meetings  for  criticism,  conducted  in  rooms  apart 

The  institution  of  Criticism,  a  description  of  which  I  have 
reserved  for  this  place,  is  a  most  important  and  ingenious  de- 
vice, which  Xoyes  and  his  followers  rightly  regard  as  the  cor- 
ner-stone of  their  practical  community  life.  It  is  in  fact  their 
main  instrument  of  government ;  and  it  is  useful  as  a  means 
of  eliminating  uncongenial  elements,  and  also  to  train  those 
who  remain  into  harmony  with  the  general  system  and  order. 

I  am  told  that  it  was  first  used  by  Mr.  Noyes  while  he  was 
a  divinity  student  at  Andover,  where  certain  members  of  his 
class  were  accustomed  to  meet  together  to  criticise  each  other. 
The  person  to  suffer  criticism  sits  in  silence,  while  the  rest  of 
the  company,  each  in  turn,  tell  him  his  faults,  with,  I  judge,  an 
astonishing  and  often  exasperating  plainness  of  speech.  Here 
is  the  account  given  by  Mr.  Noyes  himself : 

"  The  measures  relied  upon  for  good  government  in  these  community 
families  are,  first,  daily  ftatmy  meetings,  which  all  are  expected  to  attend. 
In  these  meetings,  religious,  social,  and  business  matters  are  freely  dis- 
cussed, and  opportunity  given  for  exhortation  and  reproof  Secondly. 
the  system  of  mutual  criticism.  This  system  takes  the  place  of  backbiting 
in  ordinary  society,  and  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  greatest  means  of  im- 
provement and  fellowship.  All  of  the  members  are  accustomed  to  vol- 
untarily invite  the  benefit  of  this  ordinance  from  time  to  time.  Some- 
times persons  are  criticised  by  the  entire  family ;  at  other  times  by  a  com- 
mittee of  six,  eight,  twelve,  or  more,  selected  by  themselves  from  among 
those  best  acquainted  with  them,  and  best  able  to  do  justice  to  their 
character.  In  these  criticisms  the  most  perfect  sincerity  is  expected ;  and 
in  practical  experience  it  is  found  best  for  the  subject  to  receive  his  criti- 
cism without  replying.  There  is  little  danger  that  the  general  verdict  in 
respect  to  his  character  wiH  be  unjust  This  ordinance  is  far  from  agree- 
able to  those  whose  egotism  and  vanity  are  stronger  than  their  love  of 
truth.  It  is  an  ordeal  which  reveals  insincerity  and  selfishness ;  but  it 
also  often  takes  the  form  of  commendation,  and  reveals  hidden  virtues  as 
well  as  secret  faults.  It  is  always  acceptable  to  those  who  wish  to  see 
themselves  as  others  see  them. 


290     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"  These  two  agencies — daily  evening  meetings  and  criticism — are  found 
quite  adequate  to  the  maintenance  of  good  order  and  government  in 
the  communities.  Those  who  join  the  communities  understanding  their 
principles,  and  afterward  prove  refractory  and  inharmonic,  and  also  those 
who  come  into  the  communities  in  childhood,  and  afterward  develop 
characters  antagonistic  to  the  general  spirit,  and  refuse  to  yield  to  the 
governmental  agencies  mentioned,  either  voluntarily  withdraw  or  are 
expelled.  Only  one  case  of  expulsion  is,  however,  recorded." 

They  depend  upon  criticism  to  cure  whatever  they  regard 
as  faults  in  the  character  of  a  member ;  for  instance,  idleness, 
disorderly  habits,  impoliteness,  selfishness,  a  love  of  novel-read- 
ing, "  selfish  love,"  conceit,  pride,  stubbornness,  a  grumbling 
spirit — for  every  vice,  petty  or  great,  criticism  is  held  to  be  a 
remedy.  They  have  even  a  "  criticism-cure,"  and  hold  that 
this  is  almost  as  effective  as  their  "  prayer-cure." 

On  Sunday  afternoon,  by  the  kindness  of  a  young  man  who 
had  offered  himself  for  criticism,  I  was  permitted  to  be  pres- 
ent. Fifteen  persons  besides  myself,  about  half  women,  and 
about  half  young  people  under  thirty,  were  seated  in  a  room, 
mostly  on  benches  placed  against  the  wall.  Among  them  was 
Mr.  Noyes  himself,  who  sat  in  a  large  rocking-chair.  The 
young  man  to  be  criticised,  whom  I  will  call  Charles,  sat  in- 
conspicuously in  the  midst  of  the  company.  When  the  doors 
were  closed,  he  was  asked  by  the  leader  (not  Mr.  Noyes)  wheth- 
er he  desired  to  say  any  thing.  Retaining  his  seat,  he  said  that 
he  had  suffered  for  some  time  past  from  certain  intellectual 
difficulties  and  doubts — a  leaning  especially  toward  positivism, 
and  lack  of  faith ;  being  drawn  away  from  God ;  a  tendency 
to  think  religion  of  small  moment.  But  that  he  was  combat- 
ing the  evil  spirit  within  him,  and  hoped  he  had  gained  some- 
what ;  and  so  on. 

Hereupon  a  man  being  called  on  to  speak,  remarked  that  he 
thought  Charles  had  been  somewhat  hardened  by  too  great 
good-fortune ;  that  his  success  in  certain  enterprises  had  some- 
what spoiled  him ;  if  he  had  not  succeeded  so  well,  he  would 


The  Perfectionists.  291 

have  been  a  better  man ;  that  he  was  somewhat  wise  in  his 
own  esteem ;  not  given  to  consult  with  others,  or  to  seek  or 
take  advice.  One  or  two  other  men  agreed  generally  with  the 
previous  remarks,  had  noticed  these  faults  in  Charles,  and  that 
they  made  him  disagreeable ;  and  gave  examples  to  show  his 
faults.  Another  concurred  in  the  general  testimony,  but  add- 
ed that  he  thought  Charles  had  lately  made  efforts  to  correct 
some  of  his  faults,  though  there  was  still  much  room  for  im- 
provement. 

A  young  woman  next  remarked  that  Charles  was  haughty 
and  supercilious,  and  thought  himself  better  than  others  with 
whom  he  was  brought  into  contact;  that  he  was  needlessly 
curt  sometimes  to  those  with  whom  he  had  to  speak. 

Another  young  woman  added  that  Charles  was  a  respecter 
of  persons ;  that  he  showed  his  liking  for  certain  individuals 
too  plainly  by  calling  them  pet  names  before  people ;  that  he 
seemed  to  forget  that  such  things  were  disagreeable  and  wrong. 

Another  woman  said  that  Charles  was  often  careless  in  his 
language ;  sometimes  used  slang  words,  and  was  apt  to  give  a 
bad  impression  to  strangers.  Also  that  he  did  not  always  con- 
duct himself  at  table,  especially  before  visitors,  with  careful 
politeness  and  good  manners. 

A  man  concurred  in  this,  and  remarked  that  he  had  heard 
Charles  condemn  the  beefsteak  on  a  certain  occasion  as  tough ; 
and  had  made  other  unnecessary  remarks  about  the  food  on 
the  table  while  he  was  eating. 

A  woman  remarked  that  she  had  on  several  occasions  found 
Charles  a  respecter  of  persons. 

Another  said  that  Charles,  though  industrious  and  faithful 
in  all  temporalities,  and  a  very  able  man,  was  not  religious  at 
all. 

A  man  remarked  that  Charles  was,  as  others  had  said,  some- 
what spoiled  by  his  own  success,  but  that  it  was  a  mistake  for 
him  to  be  so,  for  he  was  certain  that  Charles's  success  came 


292      Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

mainly  from  the  wisdom  and  care  with  which  the  society  had 
surrounded  him  with  good  advisers,  who  had  guided  him ;  and 
that  Charles  ought  therefore  to  be  humble,  instead  of  proud 
and  haughty,  as  one  who  ought  to  look  outside  of  himself  for 
the  real  sources  of  his  success. 

Finally,  two  or  three  remarked  that  he  had  been  in  a  certain 
transaction  insincere  toward  another  young  man,  saying  one 
thing  to  his  face  and  another  to  others;  and  in  this  one  or 
two  women  concurred. 

Amid  all  this  very  plain  speaking,  which  I  have  consider- 
ably condensed,  giving  only  the  general  charges,  Charles  sat 
speechless,  looking  before  him ;  but  as  the  accusations  multi- 
plied, his  face  grew  paler,  and  drops  of  perspiration  began  to 
stand  on  his  forehead.  The  remarks  I  have  reported  took  up 
about  half  an  hour ;  and  now,  each  one  in  the  circle  having 
spoken,  Mr.  Noyes  summed  up. 

He  said  that  Charles  had  some  serious  faults;  that  he  had 
watched  him  with  some  care ;  and  that  he  thought  the  young 
man  was  earnestly  trying  to  cure  himself.  He  spoke  in  gen- 
eral praise  of  his  ability,  his  good  character,  and  of  certain 
temptations  he  had  resisted  in  the  course  of  his  life.  He 
thought  he  saw  signs  that  Charles  was  making  a  real  and  ear- 
nest attempt  to  conquer  his  faults ;  and  as  one  evidence  of  this 
he  remarked  that  Charles  had  lately  come  to  him  to  consult 
him  upon  a  difficult  case  in  which  he  had  had  a  severe  struggle, 
but  had  in  the  end  succeeded  in  doing  right.  "  In  the  course 
of  what  we  call  stirpiculture,"  said  Noyes,  "  Charles,  as  you 
know,  is  in  the  situation  of  one  who  is  by  and  by  to  become  a 
father.  Under  these  circumstances,  he  has  fallen  under  the 
too  common  temptation  of  selfish  love,  and  a  desire  to  wait 
upon  and  cultivate  an  exclusive  intimacy  with  the  woman  who 
was  to  bear  a  child  through  him.  This  is  an  insidious  tempta- 
tion, very  apt  to  attack  people  under  such  circumstances ;  but 
it  must  nevertheless  be  struggled  against."  Charles,  he  went 


The  Perfectionists.  293 

on  to  say,  had  come  to  him  for  advice  in  this  case,  and  he 
(Noyes)  had  at  first  refused  to  tell  him  any  thing,  but  had 
asked  him  what  he  thought  he  ought  to  do ;  that  after  some 
conversation,  Charles  had  determined,  and  he  agreed  with  him, 
that  he  ought  to  isolate  himself  entirely  from  the  woman,  and 
let  another  man  take  his  place  at  her  side ;  and  this  Charles 
had  accordingly  done,  with  a  most  praiseworthy  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice.  Charles  had  indeed  still  further  taken  up  his  cross, 
as  he  had  noticed  with  pleasure,  by  going  to  sleep  with  the 
smaller  children,  to  take  charge  of  them  during  the  night. 
Taking  all  this  in  view,  he  thought  Charles  was  in  a  fair  way 
to  become  a  better  man,  and  had  manifested  a  sincere  desire 
to  improve,  and  to  rid  himself  of  all  selfish  faults. 

Thereupon  the  meeting  was  dismissed. 

All  that  I  have  recited  was  said  by  practiced  tongues.  The 
people  knew  very  well  how  to  express  themselves.  There  was 
no  vagueness,  no  uncertainty.  Every  point  was  made ;  every 
sentence  was  a  hit — a  stab  I  was  going  to  say,  but  as  the  suf- 
ferer was  a  volunteer,  I  suppose  this  would  be  too  strong  a 
word.  I  could  see,  however,  that  while  Charles  might  be  bene- 
fited by  the  "  criticism,"  those  who  spoke  of  him  would  per- 
haps also  be  the  better  for  their  speech ;  for  if  there  had  been 
bitterness  in  any  of  their  hearts  before,  this  was  likely  to  be 
dissipated  by  the  free  utterance.  Concerning  the  closing  re- 
marks of  Noyes,  which  disclose  so  strange  and  horrible  a  view 
of  morals  and  duty,  I  need  say  nothing. 

Here  are  a  few  specimens  of  criticisms  which  have  been 
printed  in  the  Circular.  The  first  concerns  a  young  woman  : 

"  What  God  has  done  for  IT.  is  wonderful ;  her  natural  gifts  and  attrac- 
tions are  uncommon ;  but  she  has  added  very  little  to  them.  She  is  spoil- 
ing them  by  indolence  and  vanity.  The  gifts  we  have  by  nature  do  not 
belong  to  us.  We  shall  have  to  give  account  for  them  to  God  as  his 
property.  All  that  we  can  expect  any  reward  for  is  what  we  add  to  that 
which  he  gives  us." 

X 


294     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

The  next  seems  to  point  at  troubles  of  a  kind  to  which  the 
community  is,  I  suppose,  more  or  less  subject : 

"  I  wish  I  could  entirely  change  public  opinion  among  us  in  regard  to 
the  matter  of  keeping  secrets.  The  fact  that  a  person  is  of  such  a  charac- 
ter that  others  associated  with  him  are  afraid  that  he  will  finally  expose 
their  wrong-doing  is  the  highest  credit  to  him.  I  would  earnestly  ex- 
hort all  lovers  of  every  degree,  young  and  old,  and  especially  the  young, 
to  consider  the  absolute  impossibility  of  permanently  keeping  secrets.  It 
is  not  for  us  to  say  whether  we  will  keep  other  folks'  secrets  or  not.  It 
is  for  God  to  say.  We  are  in  his  hands,  and  he  will  make  us  tell  the  truth 
even  though  we  say  we  won't.  He  has  certainly  made  it  his  programme 
and  eternal  purpose  that  every  secret  thing  shall  come  to  light.  What 
is  done  in  darkness  shall  be  published  on  the  house-top.  This  is  sure  to 
come,  because  it  is  God's  policy,  and  it  is  vain  for  us  to  seek  to  evade 
and  thwart  it.  Two  persons  get  together  with  shameful  secrets,  and 
promise  and  protest  and  pledge  themselves  never  to  turn  on  each  other. 
What  is  the  use  ?  It  is  not  for  them  to  say  what  they  will  do.  They 
will  finally  turn  on  one  another.  It  is  a  mercy  to  them  that  they  must. 
The  best  thing  to  be  said  of  them  is  that  they  are  likely  to  turn  on  one 
another  and  betray  their  secrets.  They  will,  if  there  is  any  honesty  or 
true  purpose  in  them.  This  keeping  secrets  that  are  dishonest,  profane, 
and  infernal,  and  regarding  them  as  sacred,  is  all  wrong.  It  is  the  rule 
of  friendship  and  honor  in  the  world,  but  to  let  the  daylight  in  on  every 
thing  is  the  rule  for  those  who  want  to  please  God." 

What  follows  relates  to  a  man  who  was  cast  down  because  of 
criticism,  and  whose  fault  Nbyes  says  is  excessive  sensitiveness : 

"  Excessive  sensitiveness  is  a  great  fault.  Every  one  should  strive  to 
get  where  he  can  judge  himself,  look  at  himself  truthfully  by  the  grace 
of  God,  and  cultivate  what  may  be  called  the  superior  consciousness,  look- 
ing at  his  own  fault  as  he  would  at  another  person's,  and  feeling  no  more 
pain  in  dissecting  his  own  character  than  he  would  that  of  any  one  else. 
This  superior  consciousness  takes  us  into  fellowship  with  God  and  his 
judgment ;  and  in  that  condition  it  is  possible  to  rejoice  in  pulling  to 
pieces  our  own  works.  Paul  says :  '  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay 
than  that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ.  Now  if  any  man  build  upon  this 
foundation  gold,  silver,  precious  stones,  wood,  hay,  stubble,  every  man's 
work  shall  be  made  manifest — for  the  day  shall  declare  it,  because  it  shall 
be  revealed  by  fire ;  and  the  fire  shall  try  every  man's  work,  of  what  sort 


The  Perfectionists.  295 


it  is.  If  any  man's  work  abide  which  he  hath  built  thereupon,  he  shall 
receive  a  reward.  If  any  man's  work  shall  be  burned,  he  shall  suffer  loss ; 
but  he  himself  shall  be  saved,  yet  so  as  by  fire.'  There  is  a  great  amount 
of  poor  building  upon  that  good  foundation ;  a  great  number  of  struct- 
ures that  are  wood,  hay,  and  stubble,  and  which  in  the  day  of  fire  will  be 
burned  up.  The  main  point  to  be  gained  by  those  who  have  thus  built 
is  to  get  into  such  sympathy  with  God  that  they  can  stand  by  when  the 
day  of  fire  comes,  and  help  on  the  destruction — poke  the  wood,  hay,  and 
stubble  into  the  flame,  rejoicing  that  they  have  a  good  foundation,  and 
are  to  be  saved  not  only  from  the  fire,  but  by  the  fire." 

Finally,  they  use  criticism  as  a  remedy  for  diseases.     I  take 
this  example  from  the  Circular  for  June  4, 1853 : 

"  S.  P.,  having  a  bad  cold  and  symptoms  of  a  run  of  fever,  tried  the  crit- 
icism-cure, and  was  immediately  relieved.  She  was  on  the  bed  in  a  state 
of  pain  and  restlessness,  when  a  friend  mentioned  to  her  the  above  rem- 
edy as  having  been  successfully  applied  in  similar  cases.  Having  some 
faith  in  it,  she  arose  immediately  and  made  her  wishes  known  to  the  fam- 
ily physician,  that  is,  to  the/am%,  who  kindly  administered  the  remedy 
without  delay.  The  operation  was  not  particularly  agreeable — there  is 
no  method  of  cure  that  is ;  but  it  was  short  and  speedily  efficacious.  One 
secret  of  its  efficacy  is,  it  stops  the  flow  of  thought  toward  the  seat  of  dif- 
ficulty, and  so  tends  directly  to  reduce  inflammation.  At  the  same  time  it 
has  a  very  bracing,  invigorating  effect.  In  the  present  case,  it  went  right 
to  the  cause  of  the  disease,  which  was  discovered  to  be  a  spirit  of  fear, . 
throwing  open  the  pores  and  predisposing  the  subject  to  the  attack. 
S.  P.  had  been  brought  up  in  a  bad  habit  in  this  respect,  expecting  with 
every  exposure  to  take  cold — and  then  expecting  to  have  it  go  on  to  a 
serious  cough,  and  so  on — fear  realizing  itself.  Criticism  stopped  this 
false  action,  and  not  only  made  her  well  in  the  first  instance,  but  by  break- 
ing up  this  fear  it  has  given  her  comparative  security  against  future  at- 
tacks. It  requires  some  fortitude  and  self-denial  in  the  patient,  when  he 
thinks  he  needs  sympathy  and  nursing,  to  take  criticism  instead  ;  but  it  is 
well  known  that  to  rouse  the  will  to  strong  exertion  is  more  than  half  a 
cure.  The  criticism  remedy  professes  to  be  universal,  and  is  recommend- 
ed for  trial  to  all  the  afflicted." 

The  Circular  for  December,  1863,  reports : 

"  It  is  a  common  custom  here  for  every  one  who  may  be  attacked  with 
any  disorder  to  apply  this  remedy  by  sending  for  a  committee  of  six  or 


296    Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

eight  persons,  in  whose  faith  and  spiritual  judgment  he  has  confidence, 
to  come  and  criticise  him.  The  result,  when  administered  sincerely,  is 
almost  universally  to  throw  the  patient  into  a  sweat,  or  to  bring  on  a  re- 
action of  his  life  against  disease,  breaking  it  up,  and  restoring  him  soon 
to  usual  health.  We  have  seen  this  result  produced  without-  any  other 
agency  except  the  use  of  ice,  in  perhaps  twenty  cases  of  sore  throat  within 
a  few  weeks.  We  have  seen  it  take  effect  at  an  advanced  stage  of  chronic 
disease,  and  raise  a  person  up  apparently  from  death's  door.  It  seems  a 
somewhat  heroic  method  of  treatment  when  a  person  is  suffering  in 
body  to  apply  a  castigation  to  the  .character  through  the  spiritual  or 
moral  part ;  but  this  is  precisely  the  thing  needed  to  cleanse  and  purify 
the  system  from  disease.  We  have  tried  it,  and  found  it  to  be  invaluable. 
To  all  who  have  faith  in  Christ  as  a  physician  we  can  commend  this  pre- 
scription as  a  medium  for  conveying  his  healing  life.  If  you  are  sick, 
seek  for  some  one  to  tell  you  your  faults,  to  find  out  your  weakest  spot  in 
character  or  conduct;  let  them  put  their  finger  on  the  very  sore  that  you 
would  best  like  to  keep  hid.  Depend  upon  it,  there  is  the  avenue  through 
which  disease  gets  access  to  you.  And  if  the  sincerity  which  points  this 
out  and  opens  it  to  the  light  hurts,  and  is  mortifying  for  the  time  being, 
it  is  only  a  sign  that  the  remedy  is  applied  at  the  right  place  and  is 
taking  effect." 

In  a  recent  number  of  the  Circular  (1874)  a  "  criticism  of 
a  sick  man  "  is  reported  in  full.  It  is  too  long  to  give  here ; 
but  I  quote  a  few  of  the  remarks,  to  show  the  style  of  attack 
in  such  cases.  The  report  opens  with  this  statement : 

"  [L.  has  been  quite  prostrate  for  months  with  some  kind  of  spinal  af- 
fection, complicated  with  chills  and  fever.  In  presenting  himself  for 
criticism,  he  was  invited,  as  the  subject  generally  is,  to  open  his  own  case. 
He  said  he  was  under  a  spirit  of  depression  and  discouragement,  particu- 
larly about  his  health.  He  thought  he  should  be  better  off  if  he  did  not 
know  so  much  about  his  disease.  Dr.  Pope  had  pronounced  it  incur- 
able.]" 

W.  said : 

"  I  think  that  L.  is  troubled  with  false  imaginations,  and  that  he  has 
inherited  this  tendency.  His  father  was  subject  to  the  hypo — always  a 
prey  to  imaginations.  I  question  whether  the  root  of  L.'s  whole  difficulty 
does  not  lie  in  his  imagination.  I  don't  doubt  but  that  he  feels  what  he 


The  Perfectionists.  297 

thinks  he  does,  but  imagination  has  terrible  power  to  make  us  feel. 
Christ  can  cast  down  imaginations,  and  every  high  thing  that  exalteth 
itself  against  the  knowledge  of  God." 

J.  said : 

"  He  talks  a  great  deal  about  his  symptoms.  If  he  would  talk  on  the 
side  of  faith,  I  think  he  would  be  a  well  man  right  of£  He  is  as  well  as 
any  body  when  he  is  well,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  he  should  not  be 
well  all  the  time.  He  is  a  very  valuable  member  of  the  community,  and 
I  don't  like  to  see  him  lie  on  his  back  so  much. 

"  M. — I  have  thought  that  his  knowledge  of  physiology,  as  he  uses  it, 
is  really  a  hinderance  to  him :  he  knows  too  much  about  his  case. 

"(7. — I  thought  I  had  the  heart  disease  when  I  was  about  nineteen 
years  of  age.  My  heart  would  beat  so  when  I  went  up  stairs  that  I  had 
to  sit  down  at  the  top.  I  remember  that  I  said  to  my  aunt  one  day  I 
was  sure  that  I  had  got  that  disease,  because  my  heart  had  such  times 
of  beating.  '  O  la !'  she  answered, '  I  guess  you  would  not  live  long  if  it 
did  not  beat.' 

"  N.  [probably  Mr.  Noyes] — I  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  a  great 
many  diseases  which  doctors  pronounce  incurable  are  so  so  far  as  their 
powers  are  concerned,  and  yet  can  be  cured  by  exorcism.  Doctors  do  not 
believe  in  possession  by  the  devil,  and  of  course  have  no  means  of  curing 
diseases  of  that  nature.  They  accordingly  pronounce  some  diseases  in- 
curable. Yet  these  diseases  are  not  incurable  by  persons  who  understand 
the  nature  of  them,  and  that  they  are  spiritual  obsessions.  I  do  not  care 
what  the  doctors  say  about  L.'s  back.  It  is  very  likely  incurable  so  far 
as  they  know,  and  yet  it  may  be  very  easily  curable  to  any  body  who 
knows  about  the  doctrine  of  the  possession  of  the  devil.  There  is  a  range 
of  science  beyond  the  routine  of  the  doctors  which  we  must  take  into  the 
account  in  all  this  dealing  with  disease.  Just  look  at  the  case  of  Harriet 
Hall,  and  see  what  incurable  diseases  she  had.  Two  doctors  certified 
that  she  ought  to  be  dead  twenty  years  ago,  and  here  she  is  alive  and 
waiting  on  her  father.  Those  doctors  are  dead,  and  she  is  trotting  around. 

"  E. — I  have  been  associated  a  good  deal  with  L.  in  business  and  now 
in  this  sickness.  I  have  studied  his  case  some.  His  attitude  toward  dis- 
ease is  very  much  like  his  attitude  in  business.  When  he  has  been  well 
and  able  to  do  his  best,  he  has  been  in  the  past  an  autocrat  in  our  busi- 
nesses. If  he  said  a  thing  would  not  go,  or  would  go,  his  dictum  was  al- 
ways accepted.  He  has  a  good  deal  of  pride  in  having  what  he  predicts 
turn  out  to  be  true.  I  have  sometimes  thought  that  he  was  willing  to 


298     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

have  things  break  down  in  order  to  demonstrate  his  infallibility  as  an  or- 
acle. He  shows  the  same  trait  in  regard  to  disease.  If  he  has  a  symp- 
tom, and  makes  up  his  mind  that  he  is  going  to  have  a  certain  disease, 
he  notifies  his  friends  of  it,  and  seems  bound  to  have  his  prophecy  come 
true  any  way. 

"  N. — He  would  rather  have  a  good  chill,  I  suppose,  than  have  his  pre- 
diction prove  false. 

"  E. — I  think  he  really  knows  but  very  little  about  his  case.  He  lost 
his  health,  and  took  up  the  study  of  medicine  to  find  out  what  ailed  him. 
It  may  seem  paradoxical,  but  I  think  that  he  is  suffering  for  want  of 
work ;  his  brain  is  suffering  for  want  of  some  healthy  action.  If  he  would 
use  his  brain  about  something  for  only  half  an  hour  a  day,  he  would  find 
himself  improving  right  along. 

"  A. — I  remember  L.  had  the  reputation  of  being  an  ingenious  boy ;  but 
he  used  to  seem  old  even  then — he  had  the  rheumatism  or  some  such 
complaint.  In  thinking  about  him,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  instinct  of 
his  life  is  to  find  a  soft  place  in  the  world :  he  is  hunting  up  cushions  and 
soft  things  to  surround  himself  with.  His  bent  is  rather  scientific  than 
religious.  A  man  that  is  an  oracle  surrounds  himself  with  something  soft 
in  having  people  defer  to  him.  I  must  say  I  think  he  is  too  oracular 
about  disease,  considering  the  amount  of  study  he  has  given  to  the  science 
of  medicine.  He  went  into  the  study  of  medicine  in  a  sort  of  self-cod- 
dling way,  to  find  out  what  the  matter  was  with  himself.  I  have  realized 
that  it  is  not  good  for  a  man  in  this  world  to  hunt  for  a  soft  spot." 

And  so  on.     Mr.  Noyes  closed  the  session  with  this  remark : 

"  N. — Christ's  words,  '  Because  I  live  ye  shall  live  also,'  may  be  thrust 
in  the  face  of  all  incurable  diseases.  There  is  no  answer  to  that.  No  in- 
curable disease  can  stand  against  it." 

I  do  not  know  whether  L.  recovered  or  not. 

On  Sunday  evening,  about  half -past  six  o'clock,  there  was  a 
gathering  in  the  large  hall  to  hear  some  pieces  of  music  from 
the  orchestra.  After  half  an  hour's  intermission,  the  people 
again  assembled,  this  time  for  a  longer  session.  A  considera- 
ble number  of  round  tables  were  scattered  about  the  large  hall ; 
on  these  were  lamps ;  and  around  them  sat  most  of  the  women, 
old  and  young,  with  sewing  or  knitting,  with  which  they  busied 


The  Perfectionists.  299 

themselves  during  the  meeting.  Others  sat  on  benches  and 
chairs,  irregularly  ranged  about. 

After  the  singing  of  a  hymn,  a  man  rose  and  read  the  report 
of  the  business  meeting  held  that  morning,  the  appointment  of 
some  committees,  and  so  on ;  and  this  was  then  put  to  vote  and 
accepted,  having  elicited  no  discussion,  and  very  little  interest 
apparently.  N ext  a  man,  who  sat  near  Mr.  Noyes  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  room,,  read  some  extracts  from  newspapers,  which 
had  been  marked  and  sent  in  to  him  by  different  members  for 
that  purpose.  Some  of  these  were  mere  drolleries,  and  raised 
laughter.  Others  concerned  practical  matters. 

To  this  reading,  which  was  brief,  followed  a  discussion  of 
the  power  of  healing  disease  by  prayer.  It  was  asserted  to  be 
"necessary  to  regard  Christ  as  powerful  to-day  over  diseases 
of  the  body  as  well  as  of  the  spirit."  When  several  had  spoken 
very  briefly  upon  this  subject,  and  the  conversation  was  evi- 
dently closed,  a  considerable  number  of  the  people  concurred 
in  what  had  been  said  by  short  ejaculations,  as  "  I  confess  the 
power  of  Christ  in  my  heart ;"  "  I  confess  the  power  of  heal- 
ing ;"  "  I  confess  to  a  tender  conscience ;"  "  I  confess  Christ ;" 
"  I  confess  a  love  for  all  good  people,"  and  so  on. 

Next  a  hymn  was  sung  relating  to  community  life,  which  I 
copy  here  as  a  curiosity : 

"  Let  us  sing,  brothers,  sing, 

In  the  Eden  of  heart-love — 
Where  the  fruits  of  life  spring, 

And  no  death  e'er  can  part  love; 
Where  the  pure  currents  flow 

From  all  gushing  hearts  together, 
And  the  wedding  of  the  Lamb 
Is  the  feast  of  joy  forever. 

Let  us  sing,  brothers,  sing. 

"We  have  built  us  a  dome 

On  our  beautiful  plantation, 
And  we  all  have  one  home, 
And  one  family  relation; 


300     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

We  have  battled  with  the  wiles 

Of  the  dark  world  of  Mammon, 
And  returned  with  its  spoils 

To  the  home  of  our  dear  ones. 

Let  us  sing,  brothers,  sing. 

"  When  the  rude  winds  of  wrath 
Idly  rave  round  our  dwelling, 
And  the  slanderer's  breath 

Like  a  simoon  was  swelling, 
Then  so  merrily  we  sung, 

As  the  storm  blustered  o'er  us, 
Till  the  very  heavens  rung 
With  our  hearts'  joyful  chorus. 
Let  us  go,  brothers,  go. 

"So  love's  sunshine  begun: 

Now  the  spirit-flowers  are  blooming, 
And  the  feeling  that  we're  one 
All  our  hearts  is  perfuming; 
Toward  one  home  we  have  all 

Set  our  faces  together, 
Where  true  love  doth  dwell 
In  peace  and  joy  forever. 

Let  us  sing,  brothers,  sing." 

This  was  presently  followed  by  another  song  peculiar  to  the 
Oneida  people.    A  man  sang,  looking  at  a  woman  near  him : 

"I  love  you,  O  my  sister, 
But  the  love  of  God  is  better; 
Yes,  the  love  of  God  is  better — 
O  the  love  of  God  is  best." 

To  this  she  replied : 

"I  love  you,  O  my  brother, 
But  the  love  of  God  is  better; 
Yes,  the  love  of  God  is  better — 
O  the  love  of  God  is  best." 

Then  came  the  chorus,  in  which  a  number  of  voices  joined : 


The  Perfectionists.  301 

"  Yes,  the  love  of  God  is  better, 
O  the  love  of  God  is  better; 
Hallelujah,  Hallelujah — 
Yes,  the  love  of  God  is  best." 

Soon  after  the  meeting  broke  up ;  but  there  was  more  sing- 
ing, later,  in  the  private  parlors,  which  I  did  not  attend. 
Thus  ended  Sunday  at  the  Oneida  Community ;  and  with  this 
picture  of  their  daily  life  I  may  conclude  my  account  of  these 
people. 


THE   AURORA   AND   BETHEL 


COMMUNES. 


THE  AURORA  AND  BETHEL 
COMMUNES. 


TWENTY-NINE  miles  south  of  Portland,  on  the  Oregon  and 
California  Railroad,  lies  the  village  of  Aurora,  more  commonly 
known  along  the  road  as  "  Dutchtown."  As  you  approach  it 
on  the  train,  you  will  notice  on  an  eminence  to  the  left  a  large 
wooden  church ;  in  the  deep  ravine  which  is  spanned  by  a 
railroad-bridge,  a  saw-mill ;  and,  scattered  irregularly  over  the 
neighboring  country,  a  number  of  houses,  most  of  them  differ- 
ing from  usual  village  dwellings  in  the  United  States,  mainly 
because  of  their  uncommon  size,  and  the  entire  absence  of  or- 
nament. They  are  three  stories  high,  sometimes  nearly  a  hun- 
dred feet  deep,  and  look  like  factories. 

Opposite  the  railroad  station,  upon  elevated  ground,  stands 
one  of  these  houses,  which  is  called  the  hotel,  and  is  an  excel- 
lent, clean  country  inn,  famous  all  over  Oregon  for  good  living. 
When  I  mentioned  to  an  acquaintance  in  Portland  my  purpose 
to  spend  some  days  at  Aurora,  he  replied,  "  Oh,  yes — Dutch- 
town;  you'll  feed  better  there  than  any  where  else  in  the 
state ;"  and  on  further  inquiry  I  found  that  I  might  expect  to 
see  there  also  the  best  orchards  in  Oregon,  the  most  ingenious 
expedients  for  drying  fruits,  and  an  excellent  system  of  agri- 
culture. Beyond  these  practical  points,  and  the  further  state- 
ment that  "these  Dutch  are  a  queer  people,"  information 
about  them  is  not  general  among  Oregonians.  The  inn,  or 
"  hotel,"  however,  at  Aurora,  is  used  as  a  summer  resort  by  res- 
idents of  Portland ;  the  Aurora  band  is  employed  at  festivities 
in  Portland ;  the  pleasure-grounds  of  the  community  are  open- 


306   .  Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

ed  to  Sunday-school  and  other  picnics  from  the  city  in  summer 
and  fall ;  and  at  the  State  Agricultural  Fair,  held  at  Salem, 
the  Aurora  Community  controls  and  manages  the  restaurant, 
and  owns  the  buildings  in  which  food  is  prepared  and  sold. 
In  these  ways  it  comes  into  direct  communication  with  the 
outside  world. 

I  found  the  hotel  a  plainly  furnished  but  scrupulously  neat 
and  clean  house,  at  which  I  was  received  with  very  little  cere- 
mony. Nor  did  any  one  volunteer  to  guide  me  about  or  give 
me  information  concerning  the  society :  curiosity  does  not  seem 
to  be  a  vice  of  the  place.  A  note  of  introduction  to  that  mem- 
ber of  the  society  who  acts  as  its  purchasing  agent,  with  which 
fortunately  I  was  provided,  secured  me  his  attention  after  I 
had  found  him.  He  was  just  then  at  work  as  a  carpenter,  put- 
ting up  a  small  house  for  a  newly  married  couple. 

The  Aurora  Commune  is  an  offshoot  of  a  society  formed 
upon  the  same  principles  in  Bethel,  Shelby  County,  Missouri. 
Dr.  Keil,  the  President  of  Aurora,  was  the  founder  of  Bethel, 
and  still  rules  both  communities.  He  removed  from  Missouri 
to  Oregon  because  he  imagined  that  there  would  be  a  larger 
field  for  his  efforts  in  a  new  state ;  and  also,  I  imagine,  because 
of  an  innate  restlessness  of  disposition. 

Dr.  Keil  is  a  Prussian,  born  in  1811 ;  and  was  a  man-milli- 
ner in  Germany.  He  became  a  mystic,  and  he  seems  to  have 
dealt  also  in  magnetism,  and  used  this  as  a  curative  agent  for 
diseases.  After  living  for  some  time  in  New  York,  he  came 
to  Pittsburgh,  where  he  gave  himself  out  as  a  physician,  and 
showed,  it  is  said,  some  knowledge  of  botany.  He  professed 
also  to  be  the  owner  of  a  mysterious  volume,  written  with  hu- 
man blood,  and  containing  receipts  for  medicines  which  en- 
abled him,  as  he  professed,  to  cure  various  diseases.  Presently 
he  became  a  Methodist,  and  thereupon  burned  this  book  with 
certain  awe-inspiring  formalities.  He  seems  to  have  been  a 


The  Aurora  and  Bethel  Communes.  307 

fanatic  in  religious  matters,  for  he  soon  left  the  Methodists  to 
form  a  sect  of  his  own ;  and  it  is  related  that  he  gathered  a 
number  of  Germans  about  him,  to  whom  he  gave  himself  out 
as  a  being  to  be  worshiped,  and  later  as  one  of  the  two  wit- 
nesses in  the  Book  of  Revelation ;  and  in  this  capacity  he 
gave  public  notice  that  on  a  certain  day,  after  a  fast  of  forty 
days,  he  would  be  slain  in  the  presence  of  his  followers. 

While  he  was  thus  engaged  in  forming  a  following  for  him 
self  among  the  ignorant  and  simple-minded  Germans,  the 
rogue  who  called  himself  Count  Leon  came  over  and  joined 
Rapp's  colony  at  Economy ;  and  when  Leon,  after  quarreling 
with  Rapp  and  removing  to  Phillipsburg,  ran  away  from  there 
to  Louisiana,  Keil  managed  to  secure  some  of  Leon's  people  as 
his  adherents,  and  thereupon  began  to  plan  a  communistic  set- 
tlement, somewhat  upon  the  plan  of  Rapp's,  but  with  the  celi- 
bate principle  left  out.  In  the  year  1844,  his  followers,  among 
whom  were  by  good  luck  some  of  the  seceders  from  Economy, 
began  a  settlement  in  accordance  with  these  plans  in  Missouri. 
They  were  all  either  Germans  or  "  Pennsylvania  Dutch,"  and 
people  of  limited  means.  It  is  probable  that  Keil  had  noth- 
ing, for  he  appears  for  some  years  previously  to  have  followed 
no  regular  business  or  profession.  They  removed  to  Bethel, 
a  point  forty-eight  miles  from  Hannibal,  in  Missouri,  and  thir- 
ty-six miles  from  Quincy ;  and  began  in  very  humble  style. 
Not  all  the  colonists  came  out  at  once.  He  took  with  him  at 
first  two  families  and  a  number  of  young  people.  These 
broke  ground  in  the  new  settlement,  and  others  followed  as 
they  sold  their  property  at  home. 

Shelby  County,  Missouri,  was  then  a  new  country.  The  col- 
onists took  up  four  sections,  or  two  thousand  five  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land,  to  which  they  added  from  time  to  time 
until  they  possessed  four  thousand  acres.  Upon  a  part  of  this 
estate  they  gradually  established  a  distillery,  grist-mill,  saw- 
mill, carding  machinery,  a  woolen-mill,  and  all  the  mechanical 


308     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

trades  needed  by  the  farmers  in  their  neighborhood,  and  thus 
they  made  a  town.  As  soon  as  they  were  able  they  set  up  a 
general  store,  and  a  post-office  was  of  course  established  by 
the  government.  Among  their  first  buildings  was  a  church ; 
for  Dr.  Keil  was  their  spiritual  as  well  as  temporal  head. 

At  Bethel  they  prospered ;  and  there  four  hundred  of  these 
Communists  still  live.  I  shall  give  an  account  of  them  later. 

Keil's  ideas  grew  with  the  increasing  wealth  of  the  people ; 
and  his  unrestf ul  spirit  longed  for  a  new  and  broader  field  of 
labor.  He  imagined  that  on  the  Pacific  coast  he  might  found 
a  larger  communistic  society  upon  a  broader  domain ;  and  he 
did  not  find  it  difficult  to  persuade  his  people  that  the  attempt 
ought  to  be  made. 

In  1855,  accordingly,  Dr.  Keil  set  out  with  ten  or  twelve 
families,  eighty  persons  in  all,  across  the  plains,  carrying  along 
household  utensils  and  some  cattle.  A  few  families  started 
later,  and  crossed  the  Isthmus ;  and  all  gathered  at  Shoal  water 
Bay,  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  Eiver,  and  in  Wash- 
ington Territory.  There  a  few  families  belonging  to  Aurora 
still  live,  managing  farms  of  the  community;  but  in  June, 
1856,  the  main  body  of  the  society  removed  to  Aurora,  and 
began  there,  with  tedious  and  severe  labor,  a  clearing  among 
the  firs. 

The  upper  part  of  the  Willamette  Valley  is  a  broad,  open 
plain,  easy  to  till,  and  inviting  to  the  farmer.  Dr.  Keil  and 
his  companions  avoided  this  plain :  they  chose  to  settle  in  a 
region  pretty  densely  grown  over  with  timber.  I  asked  him 
why  he  did  so.  He  replied  that,  meaning  to  establish  a  saw- 
mill, they  wished  to  use  the  trees  cut  down  in  clearing  the 
land  to  make  into  lumber  for  houses  and  fences.  There  was 
at  that  time  no  railroad,  and  lumber  in  the  open  prairie  was 
expensive.  "  The  end  proved  that  we  were  right,"  said  he ; 
"for,  though  we  had  hard  work  at  first,  and  got  ahead  slowly, 
we  were  soon  able  to  buy  out  the  prairie  farmers,  who  had  got 


The  Aurora  and  Bethel  Communes.  309 

into  debt  and  were  shiftless,  while  we  prudent  Germans  were 
building  our  place."  He  added  a  characteristic  story  of  their 
earl j  days — that  when  they  first  settled  at  Aurora,  having  no 
fruit  of  their  own,  he  used  to  buy  summer  apples  for  his  peo- 
ple from  the  nearest  farmers  for  a  dollar  a  bushel.  These 
were  eaten  in  the  families ;  but  he  taught  them  to  save  the 
apple-parings,  and  make  them  into  vinegar,  which  he  then  sold 
to  the  wives  of  his  American  farming  neighbors  at  a  dollar 
and  a  half  per  gallon. 

In  order  to  make  intelligible  the  means  as  well  as  the  ways 
of  their  success,  I  must  here  explain  what  are  the  social  prin- 
ciples to  which  they  agree,  and  in  accordance  with  which  they 
have  worked  since  1844.  They  are  remarkable  chiefly  for 
their  simplicity.  Dr.  Eefl  teaches,  and  they  hold  that — 

1st.  All  government  should  be  parental,  to  imitate,  as  they 
say,  the  parental  government  of  God. 

2d.  That  therefore  societies  should  be  formed  upon  the  model 
of  the  family,  having  all  interests  and  all  property  absolutely 
in  common ;  all  the  members  laboring  faithfully  for  the  gen- 
eral welfare  and  support,  and  drawing  the  means  of  living 
from  the  general  treasury. 

3d.  That,  however,  neither  religion  nor  the  harmony  of  nat- 
ure teaches  community  in  any  thing  further  than  property 
and  labor.  Hence  the  family  life  is  strictly  maintained ;  and 
the  Aurora  Communists  marry  and  are  given  in  marriage,  and 
raise  and  train  children  precisely  as  do  their  neighbors  die 
Pike  farmers.  They  reject  absolutely  all  sexual  irregularities, 
and  inculcate  marriage  and  support  the  family  relation  as  re- 
ligions duties,  as  the  outside  world  does.  Each  family  has  its 
own  house,  or  separate  apartments  in  one  of  the  large  build 
ings, 

4th.  Dr.  Keil,  who  is  not  only  their  president,  but  also  then- 
preacher,  holds  the  fundamental  truth  of  Christianity  to  be. 
**  Love  one  another,77  and  interprets  this  in  so  broad  and  literal 

Y 


310     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

a  sense  as  requires  a  community  of  goods  and  effects.  His 
sermons  are  exhortations  and  illustrations  of  this  principle, 
and  warnings  against  "  selfishness  "  and  praise  of  self-sacrifice. 
Service  is  held  in  a  very  commodious  and  well-built  church 
twice  a  month,  and  after  the  Lutheran  style :  opening  with 
singing,  prayer,  and  reading  of  the  Scriptures ;  after  which  the 
president  preaches  from  a  chosen  text. 

To  me  he  spoke  with  some  vehemence  against  sects  and 
creeds  as  anti-Christian.  Sunday  is  usually  a  day  of  recreation 
and  quiet  amusement,  with  music  and  visiting  among  the 
people. 

5th.  The  children  of  the  community  are  sent  to  school,  there 
being  at  Aurora  a  common  or  free  school,  in  which  an  old 
man,  a  member  of  the  society,  who  bears  a  remarkable  resem- 
blance to  the  late  Horace  Greeley,  is  teacher.  The  school  is 
supported  as  other  free  schools  of  the  state  are ;  but  it  is  open 
all  the  year  round,  which  is  not  the  case  generally  with  coun- 
try schools.  They  aim  to  teach  only  the  rudimentary  studies 
— reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic. 

6th.  The  system  of  government  is  as  simple  as  possible.  Dr. 
Keil,  the  founder,  is  president  of  the  community,  and  autocrat. 
He  has  for  his  advisers  four  of  the  older  members,  who  are 
selected  by  himself.  In  the  management  of  affairs  he  con- 
sults these,  whose  opinions,  I  imagine,  usually  agree  with  his. 
When  any  vitally  important  change  or  experiment  is  contem- 
plated, the  matter  is  discussed  by  the  whole  community,  and 
nothing  is  done  then  without  a  general  assent. 

7th.  Every  man  is  expected  to  labor  for  the  general  good, 
but  there  are  no  established  hours  of  work,  nor  is  any  one 
compelled  to  labor  at  any  special  pursuit. 

8th.  Plain  living  and  rigid  economy  are  inculcated  as  duties 
from  each  to  the  whole ;  and  to  labor  regularly,  and  to  waste 
nothing,  are  important  parts  of  the  "  whole  duty  of  man." 

9th.  Each  workshop  has  its  foreman,  who  comes,  it  would 


The  Aurora  and  Bethel  Communes.          311 

seem,  by  natural  selection.  That  is  to  say,  here,  as  elsewhere, 
the  fittest  man  comes  to  the  front.  But  it  is  a  principle  of 
their  polity  that  men  shall  ndt  be  confined  to  one  kind  of  labor. 
If  brickmakers  are  needed,  and  shoemakers  are  not  busy,  the 
shoe  shop  is  closed,  and  the  shoemakers  go  out  and  make 
brick.  During  the  spring  and  summer  months  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  people  are  engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  crops. 
After  harvest  these  are  drawn  into  the  town,  and  find  winter 
employment  in  the  saw-mill  and  the  different  shops.  It  is  to 
accommodate  these  temporary  sojourners  that  the  large  houses 
are  built.  Here  they  have  apartments  allotted  to  them,  and 
the  young  people  board  with  the  different  families,  the  young 
girls  being  employed  chiefly  in  household  duties. 

These  are  the  extremely  simple  principles  and  practical  rules 
which  guide  the  Aurora  Community.  Their  further  applica- 
tion I  will  show  in  detail  hereafter.  I  wish  first  to  show  the 
dollar-and-cent  results. 

Coming  to  Aurora  in  1856,  they  have  held  together,  with 
some  outside  gains,  and  some  additions  from  the  Bethel  So- 
ciety, until  there  are  now  nearly  four  hundred  people  in  the 
settlement,  who  own  about  eighteen  thousand  acres  of  land, 
scattered  over  several  counties.  They  have  established  a  saw- 
mill, a  tan-yard,  and  cabinet-maker's,  blacksmith's,  wagon-mak- 
er's, tailor's,  shoemaker's,  carpenter's,  and  tin  shops.  Also  a 
grist-mill,  carding  machinery,  some  looms  for  weaving  wool ; 
drying  houses  for  fruit;  and  there  is  a  supply  store  for  the 
community,  a  drug  store  kept  by  the  doctor  of  the  society,  and 
a  general  country  store,  at  which  the  neighboring  farmers,  not 
Communists,  deal  for  cash. 

They  have  besides  the  most  extensive  orchards  in  the  state, 
in  which  are  apples,  pears  of  all  kinds,  plums,  prunes,  which  do 
admirably  here,  and  all  the  commoner  large  and  small  fruits. 
There  is  also  a  large  vegetable  garden,  for  the  use  of  those 
who  have  none  at  their  houses.  The  orchards  are  in  fine 


312     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

order,  and  were  laden  with  fruit  when  I  saw  them  in  June, 
1873.  Near  the  orchard  is  a  large,  neatly  kept  house,  in  which 
the  people  gather  during  the  fruit-harvest  to  prepare  it  for 
market,  and  to  pare  that  which  is  to  be  dried.  Beyond  the 
orchard  is  a  public  ground  of  a  dozen  acres,  for  Sunday  assem- 
blies ;  and  here,  too,  are  houses  for  eating  and  dancing,  with  a 
kitchen  arid  bake-ovens  commodious  enough  to  cook  a  meal 
for  the  whole  settlement,  or  for  a  large  picnic  party. 

Thus  far  they  have  brought  their  affairs  in  seventeen  years, 
without  any  peculiar  religious  belief,  any  interference  with  the 
marriage  or  family  relation,  without  a  peculiar  dress,  or  any 
other  habit  to  mark  them  as  Separatists,  or  "  Gome-outers,"  to 
use  a  New  England  phrase.  It  must  be  admitted  also  that 
they  have  achieved  thus  much  without  long  or  exhausting  or 
enforced  labor. 

Their  living  is  extremely  plain.  The  houses  and  apartments 
are  without  carpets ;  the  women  wear  calico  on  Sunday  as  well 
as  during  the  week,  and  the  sun-bonnet  is  their  head-covering. 
The  men  wear  ready-made  clothing  of  no  particular  style. 
Cleanliness  is,  so  far  as  I  saw,  a  conspicuous  virtue  of  the 
society.  Dr.  Keil,  the  president,  was  the  only  person  with 
whom  I  came  in  contact  who  was  not  very  neat.  He  is  a 
snuff-taker;  and  he  walked  over  the  orchard  with  me  in  an 
untidy  pair  of  carpet  slippers. 

They  appear  to  be  people  of  few  ceremonies.  On  a  Sunday 
I  attended  a  wedding ;  the  marriage  took  place  in  the  school- 
house,  and  was  witnessed  by  a  small  congregation  of  young 
people,  friends  of  the  bride  and  groom.  The  young  girls  came 
to  the  wedding  in  clean  calico  dresses  and  sun-bonnets ;  and  I 
noticed  that  even  the  bride  wore  only  a  very  plain  woolen 
dress,  with  a  bit  of  bright  ribbon  around  her  neck.  The  cere- 
mony was  performed  by  the  schoolmaster,  who  is  also  a  justice 
of  the  peace ;  when  it  was  over,  the  company  quietly  and  some- 
what shyly  walked  up  to  congratulate  the  newly  married,  some 


The  Aurora  and  Bethel  Communes.  313 

of  the  young  women  kissing  the  bride.  Then  there  was  an 
immediate  adjournment  to  the  house  of  the  bride's  father,  a 
mile  off  in  the  country.  I  was  hospitably  invited  to  go  to  the 
feast ;  and  found  a  small  log  cabin,  with  kitchen  and  bedroom 
below,  and  a  loft  above,  standing  near  a  deep  ravine,  and  with 
a  neat  garden  and  small  orchard  back  of  it. 

In  front  a  bower  had  been  formed  of  the  boughs  of  ever- 
greens, beneath  which  were  two  or  three  tables,  which  were 
presently  spread  with  a  plain  but  wholesome  and  bountiful 
feast,  to  which  the  strangers  present  and  the  older  people  were 
first  invited  to  sit  down,  the  younger  ones  waiting  on  the  table, 
and  with  laughter  and  joking  taking  their  places  afterward. 
Meantime  the  village  band  played ;  after  dinner  we  all  walked 
into  the  garden,  and  in  a  pretty  little  summer-house  discussed 
orchards,  bees,  and  other  country  living,  and  by  and  by  return- 
ed to  the  village.  The  young  people  were  to  have  some  danc- 
ing, and  altogether  it  was  a  very  pretty,  rather  quiet  country 
wedding.  It  struck  me  that  the  young  women  were  under- 
sized, and  did  -not  look  robust  or  strong ;  there  were  no  rosy 
cheeks,  and  there  was  a  very  subdued  air  upon  all  the  congre- 
gation. The  poor  little  bride  looked  pale  and  scared ;  but  the 
bridegroom,  a  stout  young  fellow,  looked  proud  and  happy,  as 
was  proper.  Dr.  Keil  was  not  present,  but  drove  out  in  a  very 
plain  country  wagon  as  the  weddingers  entered  the  school- 
room. 

The  community  occasionally  employs  outside  laborers ;  and 
when  a  man  or  woman  applies  to  join  the  society,  he  or  she  ie 
at  first  employed  at  wages,  and  at  some  trade.  "  We  will  em- 
ploy and  pay  you  as  long  as  we  need  your  labor,"  the  council 
says  in  such  a  case  ;  "  if  after  a  while  you  are  thoroughly  sat- 
isfied that  this  is  the  best  life,  and  if  we  approve  of  you,  we 
will  take  you  in."  It  is  not  necessary  that  the  new-comer  should 
bring  money  with  him ;  but  if  he  has  means,  he  is  required  to 
put  them  into  the  common  treasury,  for  he  must  believe  that 


Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"  all  selfish  accumulation  is  wrong,  contrary  to  God's  law  and 
to  natural  laws." 

Occasionally,  I  was  told,  they  have  had  as  members  idle  or 
drunken  men.  Such  are  admonished  of  their  wrong  courses ; 
and  if  they  are  incorrigible,  they  always,  I  was  assured,  leave 
the  place.  "  An  idler  or  dissolute  person  has  not  the  sympathies 
of  our  people ;  he  has  no  connection  with  the  industries  of  the 
society ;  as  he  does  not  work,  he  can  hardly  be  so  brazen  as  to 
ask  for  supplies.  The  practical  result  is  that  presently  he  dis- 
appears from  among  us." 

"  Do  you  have  no  disagreements  from  envy  or  jealousy 
among  you,"  I  asked  Dr.Keil ;  who  replied, "  Yery  seldom  now ; 
the  people  have  been  too  long  and  too  thoroughly  trained ; 
they  are  too  well  satisfied  of  the  wisdom  of  our  plan  of  life ; 
they  are  practiced  in  self-sacrifice,  and  know  that  selfishness  is 
evil  and  the  source  of  unhappiness.  In  the  early  days  we  used 
sometimes  to  have  trouble.  Thus  a  man  wrould  say, '  I  brought 
money  into  the  society,  and  this  other  man  brought  none ;  why 
should  he  have  as  much  as  I ;'  but  my  reply  was, '  Here  is  your 
money — take  it ;  it  is  not  necessary  ;  but  while  you  remain,  re- 
member that  you  are  no  better  than  he.'  Again,  another  might 
say, '  My  labor  brings  one  thousand  dollars  a  year  to  the  society, 
his  only  two  hundred  and  fifty;'  but  my  answer  was, '  Thank 
God  that  he  made  you  so  much  abler,  stronger,  to  help  your 
brother;  but  take  care  lest  your  poorer  brother  do  not  some 
day  have  to  help  you,  when  you  are  crippled,  or  ill,  or  dis- 
abled.' " 

The  children  who  have  in  these  years,  since  1844,  grown  up 
in  the  community  generally  remain.  I  spoke  with  a  number 
of  men  who  had  thus  passed  all  but  their  earliest  years  in  the 
society,  and  who  were  content.  Men  sometimes  return,  repent- 
ant, after  leaving  the  society.  "  The  boys  and  girls  know  that 
they  can  leave  at  any  time ;  there  is  no  compulsion  upon  any 
one ;  hence  no  one  cares  to  go.  But  they  generally  see  that 


The  Aurora  and  Bethel  Communes.  315 

this  is  the  best  place.  We  are  as  prosperous  and  as  happy  as 
any  one ;  we  have  here  all  we  need." 

As  all  work  for  the  common  good,  so  all  are  supplied  from 
the  common  stores.  I  asked  the  purchasing  agent  about  the 
book-keeping  of  the  place ;  he  replied,  "  As  there  is  no  trading, 
few  accounts  are  needed.  Much  of  what  we  raise  is  consumed 
on  the  place,  and  of  what  the  people  use  no  account  is  kept. 
Thus,  if  a  family  needs  flour,  it  goes  freely  to  the  mill  and  gets 
what  it  requires.  If  butter,  it  goes  to  the  store  in  the  same 
way.  We  need  only  to  keep  account  of  what  we  sell  of  our 
own  products,  and  of  what  we  buy  from  abroad,  and  these  ac- 
counts check  each  other.  When  we  make  money,  we  invest  it 
in  land."  Further,  I  was  told  that  tea,  coffee,  and  sugar  are 
roughly  allowanced  to  each  family. 

Each  family  has  either  a  house,  or  apartments  in  one  of  the 
large  houses.  Each  has  a  garden  patch,  and  keeps  chickens ; 
and  every  year  a  number  of  pigs  are  set  apart  for  each  house- 
hold, according  to  its  number.  These  are  fed  with  the  leav- 
ings of  the  table,  and  are  fattened  and  killed  in  the  winter,  and 
salted  down.  Fresh  beef  is  not  commonly  used.  If  any  one 
needs  vegetables,  he  can  get  them  in  the  large  garden.  There 
seemed  to  be  an  abundance  of  good  plain  food  every  where. 

Originally,  and  until  1872,  all  the  property  stood  in  Dr. 
Keil's  name ;  but  in  that  year  he,  finding  himself  growing  old, 
and  urged  too,  I  imagine,  by  some  of  the  leading  men,  made  a 
division  of  the  whole  estate,  and  gave  a  title-deed  to  each 
head  of  a  family  of  a  suitable  piece  of  property — to  a  farm- 
er a  farm,  to  a  carpenter  a  house  and  shop,  and  so  on.  If 
there  was  any  heart-burning  over  this  division,  I  could  not 
hear  of  it ;  and  it  appears  to  have  made  no  difference  in  the 
conduct  of  the  society,  which  labors  on  as  before  for  the  com- 
mon welfare. 

I  asked,  "  What,  then,  if  you  have  divided  all  the  property, 
will  you  do  for  the  young  people  as  they  grow  up  ?" 


3 1 6     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Dr.Keil  replied,  "Dear  me ! — in  the  beginning  we  had  noth- 
ing, now  we  have  a  good  deal :  where  did  it  all  come  from  ? 
We  earned  and  saved  it.  Very  well;  we  are  working  just 
the  same — we  shall  go  on  earning  money  and  laying  it  by  for 
those  who  are  growing  up ;  we  shall  have  enough  for  all."  I 
give  below  some  further  details,  which  I  elicited  from  Dr. 
Keil,  preferring  to  give  them  in  the  form  of  questions  and 
answers : 

Question.  I  have  noticed  that  when  young  girls  grow  up 
they  usually  manifest  a  taste  for  ribbons  and  finery.  How  do 
you  manage  with  such  cases  ? 

Answer.  Well,  they  get  what  they  want.  They  have  only 
to  ask  at  the  supply  store ;  only  if  they  go  too  far — if  it  amounts 
to  vanity — they  are  admonished  that  they  are  not  acting  ac- 
cording to  the  principles  of  love  and  temperance;  they  are 
putting  undue  expense  on  the  society ;  they  are  making  them- 
selves different  from  their  neighbors.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
say  this,  however,  for  our  people  are  now  all  trained  in  sound 
principles,  and  there  is  but  little  need  for  admonition. 

Q.  But  suppose  such  a  warning  as  you  speak  of  were  not 
taken  ? 

A.  Well,  then  they  have  leave  to  go  into  the  world.  If 
they  want  to  be  like  the  world,  that  is  the  place  for  them. 
And  don't  you  see  that  if  they  are  so  headstrong  and  full  of 
vanity  they  would  not  stay  with  us  anyhow  ?  They  would  not 
feel  at  home  with  us. 

Q.  Suppose  one  of  your  young  men  has  the  curiosity  to 
see  the  world,  as  young  men  often  have  ? 

A.  We  give  him  money ;  he  has  only  to  ask  the  council. 
We  say  to  him :  "  You  want  to  live  in  the  world ;  well,  you 
must  earn  your  own  living  there ;  here  is  money,  however,  for 
your  journey."  And  we  give  him  according  to  his  character 
and  worth  in  the  society. 

Q.  Suppose  a  young  man  wanted  to  go  to  college  ? 


The  Aurora  and  Bethel  Communities.         317 

A.  If  any  one  of  our  people  wanted  to  train  himself  in 
some  practical  knowledge  or  skill  for  the  service  of  the  com- 
munity, and  if  he  were  a  proper  person  in  stability  of  character 
and  capacity,  we  would  send'  him,  and  support  him  while  he 
was  learning.  This  we  have  repeatedly  done.  In  such  cases 
our  experience  is  that  when  such  young  men  return  to  us  they 
bring  back,  not  only  all  the  money  we  have  advanced  for  their 
support,  but  generally  more  besides.  Suppose,  for  instance, 
one  wanted  to  learn  how  to  dye  woolens ;  we  would  give  him 
sufficient  means  to  learn  his  calling  thoroughly.  But  he  would 
probably  soon  be  receiving  wages;  and,  as  our  people  are 
economical,  he  would  lay  aside  from  his  wages  most  likely 
more  even  than  we  had  advanced  him ;  and  this  he  would  be 
proud  to  bring  into  the  common  treasury  on  his  return.  [Dr. 
Keil  gave  me  several  instances  of  such  conduct ;  and  then  pro- 
ceeded, with  a  contemptuous  air.]  But  if  a  young  man  wants 
to  study  languages,  he  may  do  so  here,  as  much  as  he  likes — no 
one  will  object ;  but  if  he  wanted  to  go  to  college  for  that- 
well,  we  don't  labor  here  to  support  persons  in  such  under- 
takings, which  have  no  bearing  on  the  general  welfare  of  the 
society. 

In  fact  there  is  little  room  for  poetry  or  for  the  imagination 
in  the  life  of  Aurora.  What  is  not  directly  useful  is  sternly  left 
out.  There  are  no  carpets,  even  in  Dr.  Keil's  house ;  no  sofas 
or  easy  chairs,  but  hard  wooden  settles ;  an  immense  kitchen, 
in  which  women  were  laboring,  with  short  gowns  tucked  up ; 
a  big  common  room,  where  apparently  the  Doctor  lives  with 
the  dozen  unmarried  old  men  who  form  part  of  his  household ; 
a  wide  hall  full  of  provision  safes,  flour -bins,  barrels,  etc.; 
but  no  books,  except  a  Bible  and  hymn-book,  and  a  few  medical 
works ;  no  pictures — nothing  to  please  the  taste ;  no  pretty  out- 
look, for  the  house  lies  somewhat  low  down.  Such  was  the 
house  of  the  founder  and  president  of  the  community;  and 
the  other  houses  were  neither  better  nor  much  worse.  There 


3 1 8     Commimistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

is  evidently  plenty  of  scrubbing  in-doors,  plenty  of  plain  cook- 
ing, plenty  of  every  thing  that  is  absolutely  necessary  to  sup- 
port life — and  nothing  superfluous. 

When  I  remarked  upon  this  to  some  of  the  men,  and  urged 
them  to  lay  out  the  village  in  a  somewhat  picturesque  style,  to 
which  the  ground  would  readily  lend  itself,  and  explained  that 
a  cottage  might  be  plain  and  yet  not  ugly,  the  reply  invariably 
came :  "  We  have  all  that  is  necessary  now ;  by  and  by,  if  we 
are  able  and  want  them,  we  may  have  luxuries."  "  For  the 
present,"  said  one,  "  we  have  duties  to  do :  we  must  support 
our  widows,  our  orphans,  our  old  people  who  can  no  longer 
produce.  No  man  is  allowed  to  want  here  amongst  us ;  we  all 
work  for  the  helpless."  It  was  a  droll  illustration  of  their 
devotion  to  the  useful,  to  find  in  the  borders  of  the  garden, 
where  flowers  had  been  planted,  these  flowers  alternating  with 
lettuce,  radishes,  and  other  small  vegetables. 

Dr.  Keil  is  a  short,  burly  man,  with  blue  eyes,  whitish  hair, 
and  white  beard.  I  took  him  to  be  a  Swiss  from  his  appear- 
ance, but  his  language — he  spoke  German  with  me — showed 
him  to  be  a  Prussian.  He  seemed  excitable  and  somewhat  sus- 
picious ;  gave  no  tokens  whatever  of  having  studied  any  book 
but  the  Bible,  and  that  only  as  it  helped  him  to  enforce  his 
own  philosophy.  He  was  very  quick  to  turn  every  thought 
toward  the  one  subject  of  community  life ;  took  his  illustra- 
tions mostly  from  the  New  Testament;  and  evidently  laid 
much  stress  on  the  parental  character  of  God.  As  he  discuss- 
ed, his  eyes  lighted  up  with  a  somewhat  fierce  fire ;  and  I 
thought  I  could  perceive  a  fanatic,  certainly  a  person  of  a  very 
determined,  imperious  will,  united  to  a  narrow  creed. 

As  to  that  creed :  He  said  it  was  desirable  and  needful  so 
to  arrange  our  lives  as  to  bring  them  into  harmony  with  natu- 
ral laws  and  with  God's  laws ;  that  we  must  all  trust  in  Him 
for  strength  and  wisdom ;  that  we  all  needed  his  protection — 
and  as  he  thus  spoke  we  turned  suddenly  into  a  little  inclosure 


The  Aurora  and  Bethel  Communities.         3 1 9 

where  I  saw  an  uncommon  sight,  five  graves  close  together, 
as  sometimes  children's  are  made;  but  these  were  evidently 
the  graves  of  grown  persons.  "  Here,"  he  said,  "  lie  m j  chil- 
dren— all  I  had,  five ;  they  all  died  after  they  were  men  and 
women,  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  twenty-one.  One 
after  the  other  I  laid  them  here.  It  was  hard  to  bear;  but 
now  I  can  thank  God  for  that  too.  He  gave  them,  and  I 
thanked  him ;  he  took  them,  and  now  I  can  thank  him  too." 
Then,  after  a  minute's  silence,  he  turned  upon  me  with  sombre 
eyes  and  said :  "  To  bear  all  that  comes  upon  us  in  silence,  in 
quiet,  without  noise,  or  outcry,  or  excitement,  or  useless  repin- 
ing— that  is  to  be  a  man,  and  that  we  can  do  only  with  God's 
help." 

As  we  walked  along  through  the  vegetable  garden  and  vine- 
yard, I  saw  some  elderly  women  hoeing  the  vines  and  clearing 
the  ground  of  weeds.  I  must  not  forget  to  say  that  the  culture 
of  their  orchards,  vineyards,  and  gardens  is  thorough  and  ad- 
mirable. Dr.  Keil  said,  nodding  to  the  women,  "  They  like 
this  work;  it  is  their  choice  to  spend  the  afternoon  thus.  If 
I  should  tell  them  to  go  and  put  on  fine  clothes  and  lounge 
around,  they  would  be  very  much  aggrieved." 

The  members  are  all  Germans  or  Pennsylvanians.  They 
are  of  several  Protestant  sects ;  and  there  is  even  one  Jew,  but 
no  Roman  Catholics. 

The  band  played  on  Sunday  evening  for  an  hour  or  more, 
but  did  not  attract  many  people.  Boys  were  playing  ball  in 
the  street  at  the  same  time.  Some  bought  tobacco ;  which  led 
me  to  ask  again  about  the  use  of  money.  The  question  was 
not  in  any  case  satisfactorily  answered ;  but  I  have  reason  to 
believe  that  a  little  selfish  earning  of  private  spending  money 
is  winked  at.  For  instance,  the  man  whose  daughter's  wed- 
ding I  attended  kept  a  few  hives  of  bees ;  and  in  answer  to  a 
question  I  was  told  he  did  not  turn  their  honey  into  the  gen- 
eral treasury ;  what  he  did  not  consume  he  was  allowed  to  sell. 


320     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"  In  such  ways  we  get  a  little  finery  for  our  daughters,"  said 
one.  Again,  when  apples  are  very  abundant,  and  a  sufficient 
supply  has  been  dried  for  market,  the  remainder  of  the  crop 
is  divided  among  the  householders,  with  the  understanding 
that  they  may  eat  or  sell  them  as  they  prefer. 

There  is  an  air  of  untidyness  about  the  streets  of  the  settle- 
ment which  is  unpleasing.  There  is  a  piece  of  water,  which 
might  easily  be  made  very  pretty,  but  it  is  allowed  to  turn  into 
a  quagmire.  But  few  of  the  door-yards  are  neatly  kept.  The 
village  seems  to  have  been  laid  out  at  haphazard.  Moreover, 
their  stock  is  of  poor  breeds  ;  the  pigs  especially  being  wretch- 
ed razor-backed  creatures. 

As  to  the  people — there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  are  happy 
and  contented.  In  a  country  where  labor  is  scarce  and  highly 
paid,  and  where  the  rewards  of  patient  industry  in  any  calling 
are  sure  and  large,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  such  a  society 
as  Aurora  would  have  held  together  nineteen  years  if  its  mem- 
bers were  not  in  every  way  satisfied  with  their  plan  of  life, 
and  with  the  results  they  have  attained  under  it. 

What  puzzled  me  was  to  find  a  considerable  number  of  peo- 
ple in  the  United  States  satisfied  with  so  little.  What  they 
have  secured  is  neighbors,  sufficient  food  probably  of  a  better 
kind  than  is  enjoyed  by  the  ordinary  Oregon  farmer,  and  a 
distinct  and  certain  provision  for  their  old  age,  or  for  helpless- 
ness. The  last  seemed,  in  all  their  minds,  a  source  of  great 
comfort.  Pecuniarily  their  success  has  not  been  brilliant,  for 
if  the  property  were  sold  out  and  the  money  divided,  the  eighty 
or  ninety  families  would  not  receive  more  than  three  thousand 
or  thirty-five  hundred  dollars  each ;  and  a  farmer  in  Oregon 
must  have  been  a  very  unfortunate  man,  who,  coming  here 
nineteen  years  ago  with  nothing,  should  not  be  worth  more 
than  this  sum  now,  if  he  had  labored  as  steadily  and  indus- 
triously, and  lived  as  economically  as  the  Aurora  people 
have. 


The  Aurora  and  Bethel  Communities.         321 

It  is  probable,  however,  that  in  the  minds  of  most  of  them, 
the  value  of  united  action,  the  value  to  each  of  the  example 
of  the  others,  and  the  security  against  absolute  poverty  and 
helplessness  in  the  first  years  of  hard  struggle,  as  well  as  the 
comfort  of  social  ties,  has  counted  for  a  great  deal. 

Nor  ought  I  to  forget  the  moral  advantages,  which  appear 
to  me  immense  and  not  to  be  underrated.  Since  the  founda- 
tion of  the  colony,  it  has  not  had  a  criminal  among  its  num- 
bers ;  it  has  sent  no  man  to  jail ;  it  has  not  had  a  lawsuit, 
neither  among  the  members  nor  with  outside  people ;  it  has 
not  an  insane  person,  nor  one  blind  or  deaf  and  dumb ;  nor  has 
there  been  any  case  of  deformity.  It  has  no  poor ;  and  the 
support  of  its  own  helpless  persons  is  a  part  of  its  plan. 

This  means  that  the  Aurora  community  has  not  once  in 
nineteen  years  of  its  existence  used  the  courts,  the  jails,  or  the 
asylums  of  the  state;  that  it  has  contributed  nothing  to  the 
criminal  or  the  pauper  parts  of  the  population. 

This  result  in  a  newly  settled  state,  and  among  a  rude  so- 
ciety, will  appear  not  less  remarkable  when  I  add  that  the 
community  has  no  library ;  that  its  members,  so  far  as  I 
could  see,  lack  even  the  most  common  and  moderate  literary 
culture,  aspiring  to  nothing  further  than  the  ability  to  read, 
write,  and  cipher ;  that  from  the  president  down  it  is  absolute- 
ly without  intellectual  life.  Moreover,  it  has  very  few  amuse- 
ments. Dancing  is  very  little  practiced ;  there  is  so  little  so- 
cial life  that  there  is  not  even  a  hall  for  public  meetings  in 
the  village ;  apple-parings  and  occasional  picnics  in  the  sum- 
mer, the  playing  of  a  band,  a  sermon  twice  a  month,  and  vis- 
iting among  the  families,  are  the  chief,  indeed  the  only  excite- 
ments in  their  monotonous  lives.  With  all  this  there  is  sin- 
gularly little  merely  animal  enjoyment  among  them :  they  do 
not  drink  liquor ;  the  majority,  I  was  told,  do  not  even  smoke 
tobacco ;  there  is  no  gayety  among  the  people.  Doubtless  the 
winter,  which  brings  them  all  together  in  the  village,  leads  to 


322     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

some  amusements ;  but  I  could  hear  of  nothing  set,  or  looked 
forward  to,  or  elaborately  planned.  "  The  women  talk,  more 
or  less,"  said  one  man  to  me,  when  I  asked  if  there  were  never 
disagreements  and  family  jars;  "but  we  have  learned  to  bear 
that,  and  it  makes  no  trouble." 

It  seemed  to  me  that  I  saw  in  the  faces  and  forms  of  the 
people  the  results  of  this  too  monotonous  existence.  The 
young  women  are  mostly  pale,  flat-chested,  and  somewhat  thin. 
The  young  men  look  good-natured,  but  aimless.  The  older 
women  and  men  are  slow  in  their  movements,  placid,  very 
quiet,  and  apparently  satisfied  with  their  lives. 

I  suppose  the  lack  of  smart  dress  and  finery  among  the 
young  people  on  Sunday,  and  at  the 'wedding,  gave  a  some- 
what monotonous  and  dreary  impression  of  the  assemblage. 
This  was  probably  strengthened  in  my  mind  by  the  fact  that 
the  somewhat  shabby  appearance  of  the  people  was  only  of  a 
piece  with  the  shabby  and  neglected  look  of  their  village,  so 
that  the  whole  conveyed  an  impression  of  carelessness  and  de- 
cay. Nineteen  years  of  steady  labor  ought  to  have  brought 
them,  I  could  not  but  think,  a  little  further :  ought  to  have 
given  them  tastefully  ornamented  grounds,  pretty  houses,  a 
public  bath,  a  library  and  assembly-room,  and  neat  Sunday 
clothing.  It  appeared  to  me  that  the  stern  repression  of  the 
whole  intellectual  side  of  life  by  their  leader  had  borne  this 
evil  fruit.  But  it  may  be  that  the  people  themselves  were  to 
blame  :  they  are  Gernlans  of  a  low  class,  and  "  Pennsylvania 
Dutch" — people,  too  often,  who  do  not  aim  high.  Then,  too, 
it  must  be  admitted  that  farm-life  in  Oregon  is  not,  in  gen- 
eral, above  the  plane  of  Aurora.  Dutchtown  is  an  Oregonian 
paradise ;  and  the  Aurora  people  are  commonly  said  to  "  have 
every  thing  very  nice  about  them." 

Moreover,  I  could  see  that  such  a  community  must,  unless 
it  has  for  its  head  a  person  of  strong  intellectual  life,  advance 
more  slowly  and  with  greater  difficulty  than  its  members 


The  Aurora  and  Bethel  Communities.         323 

might,  if  they  were  living  in  the  great  world  and  thrown  upon 
their  individual  resources. 

Economically,  I  think  there  is  no  doubt  that  in  the  clearing 
up  of  their  land,  and  the  establishment  of  orchards  and  other 
productive  industries,  these  Communists  had  a  decided  and 
important  advantage  over  farmers  undertaking  similar  enter- 
prises with  the  help  of  laborers  to  whom  they  must  have  paid 
wages.  For,  though  the  wages  of  a  day-laborer  nowhere  yield 
much  more  than  his  support  and  that  of  his  family,  they  yield 
this  in  an  uneconomical  manner,  a  part  of  the  sum  earned  be- 
ing dropped  on  the  way  to  middlemen,  and  a  part  going  for 
whisky,  sprees,  blue  Mondays,  and  illness  arising  out  of  bad 
situation,  improper  food,  etc.  The  Aurora  colonists  labored 
without  money  wages ;  they  could  economize  to  the  last  pos- 
sible degree  in  order  to  tide  over  a  difficult  place ;  they  at  all 
times  measured  their  outlay  by  their  means  on  hand ;  and  I 
do  not  doubt  that  they  made  Aurora,  with  its  orchards  and 
other  valuable  improvements,  for  half  what  it  would  have  cost 
by  individual  effort. 

Nor  can  it  be  safely  asserted  that  there  is  no  higher  future 
for  Aurora.  Dr.  Keil  can  not  carry  them  further — but  he  is 
sixty-four  years  old ;  if,  when  he  dies,  the  presidency  should 
fall  into  the  hands  of  a  person  who,  with  tact  enough  to 
keep  the  people  together,  should  have  also  intellectual  culture 
enough  to  desire  to  lift  them  up  to  a  higher  plane  of  living, 
I  can  see  nothing  to  prevent  his  success.  The  difficulty  is 
that  Dr.  Keil's  system  produces  no  such  man.  Moses  was 
brought  up  at  Pharaoh's  court,  and  not  among  the  Israelites 
whom  he  liberated,  and  who  made  his  whole  life  miserable 
for  him. 


324     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 


II. — BETHEL. 

Bethel  is,  of  course,  the  older  community ;  I  describe  it  here 
after  Aurora,  because  my  visit  to  it  was  made  after  I  had  seen 
the  Oregon  community,  and  also  because  here  is  shown  to 
what  Aurora  tends.  The  two  societies  are  still  one,  having 
their  efforts  in  common ;  and  I  was  told  that  if  the  people  at 
Bethel  could  sell  their  property,  they  would  all  remove  to 
Oregon. 

The  Bethel  Community  now  owns  about  four  thousand  acres 
of  good  land,  exclusive  of  a  tract  of  thirteen  hundred  acres  at 
Nineveh,  in  the  neighboring  county  of  Adair,  where  six  fam- 
ilies of  the  community  live,  who  are  engaged  chiefly  in  fann- 
ing, having,  however,  also  an  old  saw-mill  and  a  tannery,  and 
a  shoemaker's  and  a  blacksmith's  shop.  These  families  were 
removed  thither  twenty-five  years  ago,  because  it  was  thought 
the  land  there  had  a  valuable  water-power. 

Bethel  has  now  above  two  hundred  members,  and  about 
twenty-five  families.  There  are  fifty  children  in  the  school,  I 
was  told. 

They  have  a  saw-mill  and  grist-mill,  a  tannery,  a  few  looms, 
a  general  store,  and  a  drug-store,  and  shops  for  carpenters, 
blacksmiths,  coopers,  tinners,  tailors,  shoemakers,  and  hatters, 
all  on  a  small  scale,  but  sufficient  to  supply  not  only  themselves 
but  the  neighboring  farmers.  They  had  formerly  a  distillery, 
but  that  and  a  woolen  factory  were  burned  down  a  few  years 
ago.  They  mean  to  rebuild  the  last. 

All  the  people  are  Germans,  and  I  found  here  many  relatives 
of  persons  I  had  met  at  Aurora. 

The  town  has  much  the  same  characteristic  features  as  Au- 
rora, except  that  it  has  not  the  exceptionally  large  and  factory- 
like  dwellings.  It  has  one  main  street,  poorly  kept,  and  in 
parts  even  without  a  sidewalk;  cattle  and  pigs  were  straying 


The  A  urora  and  Bethel  Communes.  325 

about  it,  too,  and  altogether  it  did  not  look  very  prosperous. 
But  the  brick  dwellings  which  lined  the  street  were  substan- 
tially built,  and  the  saw  and  grist  mill  which  lies  at  the  lower 
end  is  a  well-constructed  building  of  brick.  Half-way  up  the 
main  street  was  a  drug-store,  large  enough  I  should  have  said 
to  accommodate  with  purges  and  cathartics  a  town  of  twenty- 
five  hundred  inhabitants  ;  and  on  a  cross-street  was  another. 
Besides  the  chief  store,  I  was  surprised  to  see  two  other  smaller 
shops;  and  still  more  surprised  to  be  told  that  they  belonged 
to  and  were  kept  by  persons  who  had  left  the  community,  but 
who  remained  here  in  its  midst.  Of  these  I  shall  have  some- 
thing to  say  by  and  by. 

At  the  head  of  the  street  stands  the  tavern  or  hotel,  kept  in 
the  German  or  Pennsylvania  Dutch  way — with  a  bed  in  the 
large  common  room,  and  meals  served  in  the  kitchen.  The 
German  cooking  was  substantial  and  good.  To  the  right  of 
the  hotel,  at  some  distance,  stands  the  church,  placed  in  the 
middle  of  a  young  grove  of  trees  planted  much  too  thickly 
ever  to  prosper.  The  church  has  a  floor  of  large  red  tiles ;  a 
narrow  pulpit  at  one  end ;  a  place  railed  off  at  the  other  end, 
where  the  band  plays  on  high  festivals,  and  two  doors  for  the 
entrance  of  the  sexes,  who  sit  on  separate  sides  of  the  house. 
From  the  tower  I  had  a  view  of  the  greater  part  of  the  com- 
munity's territory,  which  lies  finely,  and  is  evidently  a  well-se- 
lected and  valuable  tract  of  land. 

As  in  Aurora,  they  have  preaching  here  every  other  Sun- 
day, and  no  week-day  meetings  or  assemblages  of  any  kind. 
They  told  me,  however,  that  they  have  a  Sunday-school  for 
the  children,  where  they  are  instructed  in  the  Bible. 

The  preacher  and  head  of  this  society  is  a  .Mr.  Giese,  ap- 
pointed by  Dr.  Keil ;  he  keeps  also  the  drug-store,  where  I  was 
sorry  to  see  liquor  sold  to  laboring  men  and  others,  but  in  a 
very  quiet  way. 

The  Bethel  Society  has  six  trustees,  chosen  by  the  members, 


326     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

but  holding  office  during  good  behavior.  As  in  Aurora,  no 
business  report  is  made  to  the  society.  Giese  is  cashier  and 
book-keeper,  and  the  trustees  examine  his  accounts  once  a 
year. 

The  real  estate  in  Bethel  is  held  upon  a  very  extraordinary 
tenure.  It  appears  that — the  settlement  having  begun  in  1844 
— by  1847  there  were  in  the  society  some  dissatisfied  persons, 
who  clamored  for  a  partition  of  the  property.  Dr.  Keil  there- 
upon determined  to  divide  it,  and  to  each  member  or  house- 
holder a  certain  part  was  made  over  as  his  own.  Out  of  the 
gains  of  the  community  in  the  three  years  was  reserved  suffi- 
cient to  support  the  aged  and  infirm,  and  I  believe  the  mills 
were  also  kept  as  part  of  the  common  stock.  Thereupon  some 
dissatisfied  persons  sold  their  shares  and  went  off.  The  re- 
mainder lived  on  in  common,  and  without  changing  their  re- 
lations. To  each  person  a  deed  was  given  of  his  share ;  but 
those  who  remained  in  the  society  were  told — so  the  matter 
was  explained  to  me  by  two  of  the  trustees  —  not  to  put 
their  deeds  on  record  ;  and  later  a  deed  of  the  whole  property 
of  the  community,  including  the  individual  holdings,  was  made 
out  in  the  name  of  the  president,  Mr.  Giese.  I  did  not  see 
this  document,  but  presume,  of  course,  that  it  gave  him  a  title 
only  in  trust  for  all. 

"  Why  did  you  partition  the  property  ?"  I  asked,  curiously ; 
and  was  answered,  "  In  order  to  let  every  one  be  absolutely 
free,  and  to  see  who  were  inclined  to  a  selfish  life,  and  who  for 
the  community  or  unselfish  life."  Moreover,  I  was  assured 
that  any  one  who  wished  might  at  any  time  put  his  deed  on 
record,  and  its  validity  would  be  acknowledged. 

Now  among  the  persons  who  left  the  society,  six  families 
were  allowed  to  retain  their  property,  and  of  these  several  at 
this  day  live  in  the  midst  of  the  village.  One  is  a  mechanic, 
who  pursues  his  trade  for  wages ;  and  two  Others  keep  small 
shops.  This  appeared  to  me  a  really  extraordinary  instance  of 


The  Aurora  and  Bethel.  Communes.  327 

liberality  or  carelessness ;  but  no  one  of  the  community  seemed 
to  think  it  strange.  There  are  also  one  or  two  farmers,  not 
members ;  with  one  of  these,  a  young  man,  I  rode  into  Shel- 
bina.  He  told  me  that  he  had  grown  up  in  the  society ;  that 
he  had  gone  into  the  army,  where  he  served  during  the  war ; 
and  when  he  returned  he  had  got  tired  of  community  life. 
He  had '  also  got  some  business  notions  into  his  head,  and 
thought  the  community  affairs  were  too  loosely  managed. 
The  members,  he  thought,  had  not  sufficient  knowledge  of 
business ;  in  which  I  agreed  with  him.  But  his  house  stood 
at  the  end  of  the  village,  and  the  relations  between  him  and 
his  former  associates  were  at  least  so  far  amicable  that  one  of 
the  trustees  took  me  to  him  to  engage  my  passage  to  the  rail- 
road station. 

The  society  was  strongest  before  Dr.  Keil  went  to  Oregon ; 
he  drew  away,  between  1854  and  1863,  about  four  hundred  of 
the  six  hundred  and  fifty  persons  who  were  gathered  in  Bethel 
in  1855 ;  and  among  these  were,  it  seems,  a  large  number  of 
young  men  who  did  not  want  to  serve  in  the  war,  the  society 
being  non-resistants,  and  slipped  off  to  Oregon  to  avoid  the 
draft.  There  are  no  accessions  from  outside,  or  at  any  rate  so 
few  as  to  count  for  nothing.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  they  as- 
sured me  that  they  keep  most  of  their  young  people. 

When  one  of  the  younger  generation — for  whom  no  prop- 
erty has  been  set  apart — wishes  to  leave,  a  sum  of  money  is 
given.  While  I  was  there  a  young  girl  was  about  to  sever  her 
connection  with  the  society,  and  she  received,  besides  her  cloth- 
ing, twenty-five  dollars  in  money.  If  she  had  been  older  she 
would  have  received  more,  on  the  ground  that  she  would  have 
earned  more  by  her  labor,  beyond  the  cost  to  the  society  of 
her  care  from  childhood. 

Some  years  ago  they  were  subjected  to  a  troublesome  law- 
suit, brought  by  a  seceding  member  to  recover  both  wages  and 
the  property  of  his  parents.  Thereupon,  for  the  first  time. 


328    Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

they  drew  up  a  Constitution,  which  all  signed,  and  which  binds 
them  to  claim  no  wages. 

Clothing  is  served  to  all  the  members  alike  from  a  common 
store.  As  to  food :  as  at  Aurora,  each  family  receives  pigs 
enough  for  meat,  and  cows  enough  for  milk  and  butter ;  and 
adjoining  each  house  is  a  garden  of  from  a  quarter  to  half  an 
acre,  in  which  the  women  work  to  raise  vegetables  for  the 
home  supply — the  men  helping  at  odd  hours.  But  it  is  plainly 
understood  that  each  may,  and  indeed  is  expected  to  raise  a 
surplus  of  chickens,  eggs,  vegetables,  fruits,  etc.,  which  is  sold 
at  the  store  for  such  luxuries  as  coffee,  sugar,  and  articles  of 
food  brought  from  a  distance.  The  calves  are  raised  for  the 
community.  I  found  that  one  member  was  a  silversmith  and 
photographer ;  and  all  that  he  sold  to  his  fellow-members  of 
course  they  paid  for  with  the  surplus  products  of  their  small 
holdings.  Flour  and  meal  they  take  from  the  mill  as  they 
please,  and  no  account  is  kept  of  it. 

The  trustees  are  also  foremen,  and  lay  out  the  work.  The 
people  rise  with  the  sun,  and  have  three  meals  a  day.  Before 
every  house,  neatly  piled  up  in  the  street,  I  noticed  large  sup- 
plies of  fire-wood,  sawed  and  split.  They  hire  a  few  laborers 
to  cut  wood  for  them  ;  it  is  then  drawn  into  town  and  to  each 
man's  door  by  the  community  teams;  and  thereupon  each 
family  is  expected  to  saw  and  split  its  own  supplies.  In  fact, 
they  make  a  general  effort,  and  with  singing  and  much  merri- 
ment the  wood-piles  are  properly  prepared.  This  certainly  is 
a  convenience  which  the  backwood's  farmer's  wife  is  often 
without ;  but  the  untidy  look  of  a  great  wood-pile  before  each 
house  vexed  my  eyes. 

The  older  men  complained  to  me  that  the  emigration  to 
Oregon  of  so  many  of  their  young  people  had  crippled  them ; 
and,  indeed,  I  saw  many  signs  of  neglect — buildings  in  want 
of  repair,  and  a  lack  of  tidiness.  But  still  they  appear  to  be 
making  money ;  for  they  have  recently  rebuilt  their  grist-mill. 


The  Aurora  and  Bethel  Communes.          329 

and  have  also  within  a  few  years  paid  off  a  debt  of  between 
three  and  four  thousand  dollars. 

The  religious  belief  of  the  Bethel  Communists  is,  of  course, 
the  same  with  their  Aurora  brethren.  They  venerate  Dr.  Keil 
as  the  wisest  of  mankind,  and  abhor  all  ceremonies  and  sects. 
I  was  told  that  they  celebrate  the  Lord's  Supper  at  irregular 
intervals,  and  then  by  a  regular  supper,  held  either  in  the 
church  or  in  a  private  house. 

The  people,  like  those  of  Aurora,  are  simple  Germans  of  the 
lower  class,  and  they  live  comfortably  after  their  fashion. 
They  have  no  library,  and  read  few  books  except  the  Bible. 
They  have  never  printed  any  thing.  In  many  of  the  houses  I 
noticed  two  beds  in  one  room,  and  that  the  principal  sitting- 
room  of  the  family.  Dr.  Giese,  the  president,  has  living  with 
him  most  of  the  young  men  who  are  without  family  connec- 
tions in  the  society.  There  are  usually  no  carpets  in  the  houses. 
But  every  thing  is  clean;  the  beds  are  neat;  and  it  is  only 
out  of  doors  that  litter  is  to  'be  found. 

The  people  have  but  little  ingenuity ;  there  is  a  lack  of  la- 
bor-saving devices ;  indeed,  the  only  thing  of  the  kind  I  saw 
was  a  wash-house,  through  which  the  hot  water  from  the  boiler 
of  the  mill  is  led;  but  the  house  itself  was  badly  arranged 
and  comfortless.  The  young  people  have  a  band  of  music, 
but  no  other  amusement  that  I  could  hear  of.  Tobacco  they 
use  freely,  and  strong  drink  is  allowed ;  but  they  have  no 
drunkards. 

As  their  future  is  secure,  the  people  marry  young,  and  this 
probably  does  much  to  bind  them  to  the  place.  No  restriction 
is  placed  upon  marriage,  except  that  if  one  marries  out  of  the 
community,  he  must  leave  it. 

The  extraordinary  feature  of  the  Bethel  and  Aurora  com- 
munities is  the  looseness  of  the  bond  which  keeps  the  people 
together.  They  might  break  up  at  any  time ;  but  they  have 
remained  in  community  for  thirty  years.  Their  religious  be- 


330     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

lief  is  extremely  simple,  and  yet  it  seems  to  suffice  to  hold 
them.  They  have  not  had  among  them  any  good  business- 
men, yet  they  have  managed  to  make  a  reasonably  fair  busi- 
ness success ;  for  though,  as  I  remarked  concerning  Aurora, 
almost  any  farmer  industrious  and  economical  as  they  are 
would  have  been  pecuniarily  better  off  after  so  many  years, 
still  these  people,  but  for  their  determination  to  have  their 
goods  in  common,  would  for  the  most  part  to-day  have  been 
day-laborers. 

In  weighing  results,  one  should  not  forget  the  character  of 
those  who  have  achieved  them ;  and  considering  what  these 
people  are,  it  can  not  be  denied  that  they  have  lived  better  in 
community  than  they  would  have  lived  by  individual  effort. 


THE  ICARIANS, 


NEAR 


CORNING, 


THE  ICARIANS. 


ETIENNE  CABET  had  a  pretty  dream ;  this  dream  took  hold 
of  his  mind,  and  he  spent  sixteen  years  of  his  life  in  trying  to 
turn  it  into  real  life. 

One  can  not  help  respecting  the  handful  of  men  and  women 
who,  in  the  wilderness  of  Iowa,  have  for  more  than  twenty 
years  faithfully  endeavored  to  work  out  the  problem  of  Com- 
munism according  to  the  system  he  left  them ;  but  Cabet's 
own  writings  persuade  me  that  he  was  little  more  than  a  vain 
dreamer,  without  the  grim  patience  and  steadfast  unselfishness 
which  must  rule  the  nature  of  one  who  wishes  to  found  a  suc- 
cessful communistic  society. 

Cabet  was  born  at  Dijon,  in  France,  in  1788.  He  was  edu- 
cated for  the  bar,  but  became  a  politician  and  writer.  He  was 
a  leader  of  the  Carbonari ;  was  a  member  of  the  French  Leg- 
islature ;  wrote  a  history  of  the  French  Revolution  of  July ; 
established  a  newspaper;  was  condemned  to  two  years'  im- 
prisonment for  an  article  in  it,  but  evaded  his  sentence  by 
flying  to  London ;  in  1839  returned  to  France,  and  published 
a  history  of  the  French  Revolution  in  four  volumes;  and  the 
next  year  issued  a  book  somewhat  famous  in  its  day — the  voy- 
age to  Icaria.  In  this  romance  he  described  a  communistic 
Utopia,  whose  terms  he  had  dreamed  out ;  and  he  began  at 
once  to  try  to  realize  his  dream.  He  framed  a  constitution 
for  an  actual  Icaria ;  sought  for  means  and  members  to  estab- 
lish it ;  selected  Texas  as  its  field  of  operations,  and  early  in 
1848  actually  persuaded  a  number  of  persons  to  set  sail  for 
the  Red  River  country. 


334     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Sixty-nine  persons  formed  the  advance  guard  of  his  Utopia. 
They  were  attacked  by  yellow  fever,  and  suffered  greatly ;  and 
by  the  time  next  year  when  Cabet  arrived  at  New  Orleans  with 
a  second  band,  the  first  was  already  disorganized.  He  heard, 
on  his  arrival,  that  the  Mormons  had  been  driven  from  Nau- 
voo,  in  Illinois,  leaving  their  town  deserted ;  and  in  May,  1850, 
he  established  his  followers  there. 

They  bought  at  Nauvoo  houses  sufficient  to  accommodate 
them,  but  very  little  land,  renting  such  farms  as  they  needed. 
They  lived  there  on  a  communal  system,  and  ate  in  a  great 
dining-room.  But  Cabet,  I  have  been  told,  did  not  intend  to 
form  his  colony  permanently  there,  but  regarded  Nauvoo  only 
as  a  rendezvous  for  those  who  should  join  the  community,  in- 
tending to  draft  them  thence  to  the  real  settlements,  which  he 
wished  to  found  in  Iowa. 

If  Cabet  had  been  a  leader  of  the  right  temper,  he  might,  I 
believe,  have  succeeded ;  for  he  appears  to  have  secured  the 
only  element  indispensable  to  success — a  large  number  of  fol- 
lowers. He  had  at  Nauvoo  at  one  time  not  less  than  fifteen 
hundred  people.  With  so  many  members,  a  wise  leader  with 
business  skill  ought  to  be  able  to  accomplish  very  much  in  a 
single  year ;  in  ten  years  his  commune,  if  he  could  keep  it  to- 
gether, ought  to  be  wealthy. 

The  Icarians  labored  and  planted  with  success  at  Nauvoo ; 
they  established  trades  of  different  kinds,  as  well  as  manufact- 
ures ;  and  Cabet  set  up  a  printing-office,  and  issued  a  num- 
ber of  books  and  pamphlets  in  French  and  German,  intend- 
ed to  attract  attention  to  the  community.  Among  these,  a 
pamphlet  of  twelve  pages,  entitled,  "Wenn  ich  $500,000 
hatte"  ("If  I  had  half  a  million  dollars"),  which  bears  date 
Nauvoo,  1854,  gives  in  some  detail  his  plans  and  desires.  It 
is  a  statement  of  what  he  could  and  would  achieve  for  a  com- 
mune if  some  one  would  start  him  with  a  capital  of  half  a 
million ;  and  the  fact  that  four  years  after  he  came  to  Nan- 


The  Icarians.  335 


voo  he  should  still  have  spent  his  time  in  such  an  impractica- 
ble dream,  shows,  I  think,  that  he  was  not  a  fit  leader  for  the 
enterprise.  For  nothing  appears  to  me  more  certain  than  that 
a  communistic  society,  to  be  successful,  needs  above  all  things 
to  have  the  training,  mental  and  physical,  which  comes  out  of 
a  life  of  privation,  spent  in  the  patient  accumulation  of  prop- 
erty by  the  labors  of  the  members. 

Moreover,  in  Cabet's  first  paragraph  he  shows  contempt  for 
one  of  the  vital  principles  of  a  communistic  society.  "  If  I 
had  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,"  he  writes,  "  this  would 
open  to  us  an  immense  credit,  and  in  this  way  vastly  increase 
our  means."  But  it  is  absolutely  certain  that  debt  is  the  bane 
of  such  societies;  and  the  remnant  of  Icarians  who  have  so 
tenaciously  and  bravely  held  together  in  Iowa  would  be  the 
first  to  confess  this,  for  they  suffered  hardships  for  years  be- 
cause of  debt. 

If  he  had  half  a  million,  Cabet  goes  on  to  say,  he  would  be 
able  to  establish  his  commune  upon  a  broad  and  generous 
scale ;  and  he  draws  a  pretty  picture  of  dwellings  supplied 
with  gas  and  hot  and  cold  water ;  of  factories  fitted  up  on  the 
largest  scale ;  of  fertile  farms  under  the  best  culture ;  of 
schools,  high  and  elementary ;  of  theatres,  and  other  places 
of  amusement ;  of  elegantly  kept  pleasure-grounds,  and  so  on. 
Alas  for  the  dreams  of  a  dreamer !  I  turned  over  the  leaves 
of  his  pamphlet  while  wandering  through  the  muddy  lanes  of 
the  present  Icaria,  on  one  chilly  Sunday  in  March,  with  a  keen 
sense  of  pain  at  the  contrast  between  the  comfort  and  elegance 
he  so  glowingly  described  and  the  dreary  poverty  of  the  life 
which  a  few  determined  men  and  women  have  there  chosen 
to  follow,  for  the  sake  of  principles  which  they  hold  both  true 
and  valuable. 

I  have  heard  that  Cabet  developed  at  Kauvoo  a  dictatorial 
spirit,  and  that  this  produced  in  time  a  split  in  the  society. 
The  leader  and  his  adherents  went  off  to  St.  Louis,  where  he 


336     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

died  in  1856.  Meantime  some  of  the  members  were  already 
settled  in  Iowa,  and  those  who  remained  at  Nauvoo  after  Ca- 
bet's  desertion  or  flight  dispersed ;  the  property  was  sold,  and 
the  Illinois  colony  came  to  an  end.  The  greater  part  of  the 
members  went  off,  more  or  less  disappointed.  Between  fifty 
and  sixty  settled  upon  the  Iowa  estate,  and  here  began  life, 
very  poor  and  with  a  debt  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  in  some 
way  fixed  upon  their  land. 

Their  narrow  means  allowed  them  to  build  at  first  only  the 
meanest  mud  hovels.  They  thought  themselves  prosperous 
when  they  were  able  to  build  log-cabins,  though  these  were  so 
wretched  that  comfort  must  have  been  unknown  among  them 
for  years.  They  were  obliged  to  raise  all  that  they  consumed ; 
and  they  lived,  and  indeed  still  live,  in  the  narrowest  way. 

The  Icarian  Commune  lies  about  four  miles  from  Corn- 
ing, a  station  on  the  Burlington  and  Missouri  River  Railroad, 
in  Iowa.  They  began  here  with  four  thousand  acres  of  land, 
pretty  well  selected,  and  twenty  thousand  dollars  of  debt. 
After  some  years  of  struggle  they  gave  up  the  land  to  their 
creditors,  with  the  condition  that  they  might  redeem  one  half 
of  it  within  a  certain  stipulated  time.  This  they  were  able  to 
do  by  hard  work  and  pinching  economy ;  and  they  own  at 
present  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  thirty-six  acres,  part 
of  which  is  in  timber,  and  valuable  on  that  account. 

There  are  in  all  sixty-five  members,  and  eleven  families. 
The  families  are  not  large,  for  there  are  twenty  children  and 
only  twenty-three  voters  in  the  community. 

They  possess  a  saw-mill  and  grist-mill,  built  out  of  their 
savings  within  five  years,  and  now  a  source  of  income.  They 
cultivate  three  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land,  and  have  one 
hundred  and  twenty  head  of  cattle,  five  hundred  head  of  sheep, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  hogs,  and  thirty  horses.  Until  within 
three  years  the  settlement  contained  only  log-cabins,  and  these 
very  small,  and  not  commodiously  arranged.  Since  then  they 


The  Icarians. 


337 


have  got  entirely  out  of  debt,  and  have  begun  to  build  frame 
houses.  The  most  conspicuous  of  these  is  a  two-story  build- 
ing, sixty  by  twenty-four  feet  in  dimensions,  which  contains 
the  common  dining-room,  kitchen,  a  provision  cellar,  and  up 
stairs  a  room  for  a  library,  and  apartments  for  a  family.  In 
the  spring  of  1874  they  had  nearly  a  dozen  frame  houses, 
which  included  the  dining-hall,  a  wash-house,  dairy,  and  school- 
house.  All  the  dwellings  are  small  and  very  cheaply  built. 
They  have  small  shops  for  carpentry,  blacksmithing,  wagon- 
making,  and  shoemaking ;  and  they  make,  as  far  as  possible, 
all  they  use. 

Most  of  the  people  are  French,  and  this  is  the  language 
mainly  spoken,  though  I  found  that  German  was  also  under- 
stood. Besides  the  French,  there  are  among  the  members  one 
American,  one  Swiss,  a  Swede,  and  a  Spaniard,  and  two  Ger- 
mans. The  children  look  remarkably  healthy,  and  on  Sunday 
were  dressed  with  great  taste.  The  living  is  still  of  the  plain- 
est. In  the  common  dining-hall  they  assemble  in  groups  at 
the  tables,  which  were  without  a  cloth,  and  they  drink  out  of 
tin  cups,  and  pour  their  water  from  tin  cans.  "It  is  very 
plain,"  said  one  to  me;  "but  we  are  independent — no  man's 
servants — and  we  are  content." 

They  sell  about  two  thousand  five  hundred  pounds  of  wool 
each  year,  and  a  certain  number  of  cattle  and  hogs ;  and  these, 
with  the  earnings  of  their  mills,  are  the  sources  of  their  income. 

Their  number  does  not  increase,  though  four  or  five  years 
ago  they  were  reduced  to  thirty  members;  but  since  then 
seven  who  went  off  have  returned.  I  should  say  that  they  had 
passed  over  the  hardest  times,  and  that  a  moderate  degree  of 
prosperity  is  possible  to  them  now ;  but  they  have  waited  long 
for  it.  I  judge  that  they  had  but  poor  skill  in  management 
and  no  business  talent ;  but  certainly  they  had  abundant  cour- 
age and  determination. 

They  live  under  a  somewhat  elaborate  constitution,  made 

AA 


Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

for  them  by  Cabet,  which  lays  down  with  great  care  the  equal- 
ity and  brotherhood  of  mankind,  and  the  duty  of  holding  all 
things  in  common;  abolishes  servitude  and  service  (or  serv- 
ants) ;  commands  marriage,  under  penalties ;  provides  for  edu- 
cation ;  and  requires  that  the  majority  shall  rule.  In  practice 
they  elect  a  president  once  a  year,  who  is  the  executive  offi- 
cer, but  whose  powers  are  strictly  limited  to  carrying  out  the 
commands  of  the  society.  "  He  could  not  even  sell  a  bushel  of 
corn  without  instructions,"  said  one  to  me.  Every  Saturday 
evening  they  hold  a  meeting  of  all  the  adults,  women  as  well 
as  men,  for  the  discussion  of  business  and  other  affairs.  Offi- 
cers are  chosen  at  every  meeting  to  preside  and  keep  the  rec- 
ords ;  the  president  may  present  subjects  for  discussion ;  and 
women  may  speak,  but  have  no  vote.  The  conclusions  of  the 
meeting  are  to  rule  the  president  during  the  next  week.  All 
accounts  are  made  up  monthly,  and  presented  to  the  society 
for  discussion  and  criticism.  Besides  the  president,  there  are 
four  directors — of  agriculture,  clothing,  general  industry,  and 
building.  These  carry  on  the  necessary  work,  and  direct  the 
other  members.  They  buy  at  wholesale  twice  a  year,  and  just 
before  these  purchases  are  made  each  member  in  public  meet- 
ing makes  his  or  her  wants  known.  Luxury  is  prohibited  in 
the  constitution,  but  they  have  not  been  much  tempted  in  that 
direction  so  far.  They  use  tobacco,  however. 

They  have  no  religious  observances.  Sunday  is  a  day  of 
rest  from  labor,  when  the  young  men  go  out  with  guns,  and  the 
society  sometimes  has  theatrical  representations,  or  music,  or 
some  kind  of  amusement.  The  principle  is  to  let  each  one  do 
as  he  pleases. 

They  employ  two  or  three  hired  men  to  chop  wood  and  la- 
bor on  the  farm. 

They  have  a  school  for  the  children,  the  president  being 
teacher. 

The  people  are  opposed  to  what  is  called  a  "  unitary  home," 
and  prefer  to  have  a  separate  dwelling  for  each  family. 


The  Icarians.  339 


The  children  are  kept  in  school  until  they  are  sixteen ;  and 
the  people  lamented  their  poverty,  which  prevented  them  from 
providing  better  education  for  them. 

Members  are  received  by  a  three-fourths'  majority. 

This  is  Icaria.  It  is  the  least  prosperous  of  all  the  commu- 
nities I  have  visited ;  and  I  could  not  help  feeling  pity,  if  not 
for  the  men,  yet  for  the  women  and  children  of  the  settlement, 
who  have  lived  through  all  the  penury  and  hardship  of  these 
many  veal's.  A  gentleman  who  knew  of  my  visit  there  writes 
me :  "  Please  deal  gently  and  cautiously  with  Icaria.  The  man 
who  sees  only  the  chaotic  village  and  the  wooden  shoes,  and 
only  chronicles  those,  will  commit  a  serious  error.  In  that  vil- 
lage are  buried  fortunes,  noble  hopes,  and  the  aspirations  of 
good  and  great  men  like  Cabet.  Fertilized  by  these  deaths,  a 
great  and  beneficent  growth  yet  awaits  Icaria.  It  has  an 
eventful  and  extremely  interesting  history,  but  its  future  is  des- 
tined to  be  still  more  interesting.  It,  and  it  alone,  represents 
in  America  a  great  idea — rational  democratic  communism." 

I  am  far  from  belittling  the  effort  of  the  men  of  Icaria. 
They  have  shown,  as  I  have  said,  astonishing  courage  and  per- 
severance. They  have  proved  their  faith  in  the  communistic 
idea  by  labors  and  sufferings  which  seem  to  me  pitiful.  In 
fact,  communism  is  their  religion.  But  their  long  siege  at  for- 
tune's door  only  shows  how  important,  and  indeed  indispen- 
sable to  the  success  of  such  an  effort,  it  is  to  have  an  able  lead- 
er, and  to  give  to  him  almost  unlimited  power  and  absolute 
obedience. 


THE  BISHOP  HILL  COMMUNE. 


THE  BISHOP  HILL  COMMUNE. 


I  HAVE  determined  to  give  a  brief  account  of  the  Swedish 
colony  at  Bishop  Hill,  in  Henry  County,  Illinois,  because, 
though  it  has  now  ceased  to  exist  as  a  communistic  society,  its 
story  yields  some  instructive  lessons  in  the  creation  and  main- 
tenance of  such  associations.  These  Swedes  began  in  abject 
poverty,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  built  up  a  prosper- 
ous town  and  settlement.  They  rashly  went  into  debt :  debt 
brought  lawsuits  and  disputes  into  the  society,  and  all  three 
broke  it  up. 

The  people  of  Bishop  Hill  came  from  the  region  of  Helsing- 
land,  in  Sweden.  In  their  own  country  they  were  Pietists,  and 
Separatists  from  the  State  Church,  mostly  farmers,  scattered 
over  a  considerable  district,  but  united  by  their  peculiar  doc- 
trines, and  by  the  efforts  of  their  preachers.  I  am  told  that 
they  came  into  existence  as  a  sect  about  1830 ;  in  1843  their 
chief  preacher  was  a  man  of  some  energy,  Eric  Janson  by 
name ;  and  he  taught  them  the  duty  of  living  after  the  manner 
of  the  Primitive  Christian  Church,  inculcating  humble  and 
prayerful  lives,  equality  of  conditions,  and  community  of  prop- 
erty. 

Their  refusal  to  attend  church,  and  to  submit  themselves  to 
its  ordinances,  excited  the  attention  of  the  government,  which, 
probably  also  alarmed  at  the  phrase  "  community  of  goods," 
began  to  persecute  them  with  fines  and  imprisonment.  Police 
officers  were  sent  to  break  up  their  congregations ;  they  imag- 
ined themselves  threatened  with  confiscation ;  and  in  1845 
they  sent  one  of  their  number,  Olaf  Olson,  to  the  United  States, 


344    Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

to  see  if  they  could  not  here  find  land  on  which  to  live  in  peace 
and  freedom.  Olson's  inquiries  led  him  to  Illinois ;  he  selected 
Henry  County  as  a  favorable  situation ;  and  in  1846,  on  his  re- 
port, the  people  determined  to  emigrate  in  a  body,  the  few 
wealthy  agreeing  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  poor.  They  say 
that  when  they  were  ready  to  embark,  they  were  refused  per- 
mission to  leave  their  country,  and  Jonas  Olson,  one  of  their 
leaders,  had  to  go  to  the  king,  who,  on  his  prayer,  finally  al- 
lowed them  to  depart. 

The  first  ship-load  left  Galfa  in  the  summer  of  1846,  and  ar- 
rived at  Bishop  Hill  in  October  of  that  year.  Others  followed, 
until  by  the  summer  of  1848  they  had  eight  hundred  people 
on  this  spot — which  they  named  from  an  eminence  in  their  own 
country. 

They  appear  to  have  spent  most  of  their  means  in  the  emi- 
gration, for  they  were  able  during  the  first  year  to  buy  only 
forty  acres  of  land,  and  for  eighteen  months  they  lived  in  ex- 
treme poverty — in  holes  in  the  ground,  and  under  sheds  built 
against  hillsides;  and  ground  their  corn  for  bread  in  hand- 
mills,  often  laboring  at  this  task  by  turns  all  night,  to  provide 
meal  for  the  next  day.  A  tent  made  of  linen  cloth  was  their 
church  during  this  time ;  and  they  worked  the  land  of  neigh- 
boring farmers  on  shares  to  gain  a  subsistence.  Living  on  the 
prairie,  fever  and  ague  attacked  them  and  added  to  their 
wretchedness. 

By  1848  they  had  acquired  two  hundred  acres  of  land,  but 
were  $1800  in  debt,  which  they  had  borrowed  to  keep  them 
from  starving ;  but  in  this  year  they  built  a  brick  church,  and 
they  now  worked  a  good  deal  of  land  on  shares.  In  1849  they 
began  to  build  a  very  long  brick  house,  still  standing,  which 
served  them  as  kitchen  and  dining-hall.  In  the  same  year  Jo- 
nas Olson,  a  preacher,  took  eight  young  men,  and  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  society  went  to  California  to  dig  gold  for  the  com- 
mon interest.  He  returned  after  a  year,  unsuccessful. 


The  Bishop  Hill  Colony.  345 

In  1850  Eric  Janson,  their  leader,  was  shot  in  the  Henry 
County  court-house,  while  attending  a  trial  in  which  a  young 
man,  not  a  member  of  the  community,  claimed  his  wife,  a  girl 
who  was  a  member,  and  whom  he  wished  to  take  away.  I  do 
not  know  the  merits  of  the  case,  nor  is  it  important  here.  Dur- 
ing this  year  Olaf  Janson  returned  from  Sweden  with  several 
thousand  dollars  which  he  had  been  sent  to  collect — being  debts 
due  some  of  the  members ;  and  this  money,  which  enabled  them 
to  buy  land,  appears  to  have  given  them  their  first  fair  start. 

At  this  time,  though  they  were  still  poor,  they  had  built  a 
number  of  brick  dwellings,  had  set  up  shops  for  carpentry, 
blacksmithing,  wagon-making,  etc. ;  were  raising  flax,  selling 
the  seed,  and  making  the  fibre  into  linen,  some  of  which  they 
sold;  and  they  had  a  few  cattle,  and  a  worn-out  saw-mill. 
They  had  set  up  a  school,  even  while  they  lived  "  in  the  caves,'7 
and  now  hired  an  American  teacher. 

In  1853  they  got  an  act  of  incorporation  from  the  Illinois 
Legislature,  which  enabled  them  to  hold  land  and  transact  busi- 
ness as  an  association,  and  in  the  name  of  trustees ;  until  that 
time  all  they  owned  was  held  in  the  name  of  individual  mem- 
bers. In  the  same  year  they  made  a  contract  to  raise,  during 
two  years,  seven  hundred  acres  of  broom-corn,  for  which  they 
received  in  cash  on  delivery  fifty  dollars  a  ton.  As  yet  they 
had  no  railroad,  and  had  to  haul  their  corn  fifty  miles.  At 
this  time,  too,  they  began  to  improve  their  breeds  of  cattle ; 
paid  high  prices  for  one  or  two  short-horn  bulls,  and  were  soon 
famous  in  their  region  for  the  excellence  of  their  stock.  They 
also  made  wagons  for  the  neighboring  farmers,  and  established 
a  grist-mill. 

In  1854-5  they  took  a  contract  to  grade  a  part  of  the  Chica- 
go, Burlington,  and  Quincy  Railroad  line,  and  to  build  some 
bridges ;  and  as  they  were  able  to  put  a  considerable  body  of 
their  young  men  upon  this  work,  it  brought  them  in  a  good 
deal  of  money.  They  now  began  to  erect  brick  dwellings,  a 


346     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

town-hall,  and  a  large  hotel,  where  they  for  a  while  did  a  good 
business.  They  made  excellent  brick,  and  all  their  houses 
are  very  solidly  built,  plain,  but  of  pleasing  exteriors.  The 
most  remarkable  one  is  the  long  dining-hall  and  kitchen, 
with  a  bakery  and  brewery  adjoining.  In  the  upper  story  of 
this  building  a  considerable  number  of  families  lived ;  in  the 
lower  story  all  the  people — to  the  number  of  a  thousand  at 
one  time — ate  three  times  a  day. 

They  were  now  prospering.  In  1859  they  owned  ten  thou- 
sand acres  of  land,  and  had  it  all  neatly  fenced  and  in  excel- 
lent order.  They  had  the  finest  cattle  in  the  state ;  and  their 
shops  and  mills  earned  money  from  the  neighboring  farmers. 

The  families  lived  separately,  but  all  ate  together.  They  re- 
ceived their  clothing  supplies  at  a  common  storehouse  as  they 
needed  them,  and  labored  under  the  direction  of  foremen. 
Their  business  organization  was  always  loose.  They  had  no 
president  or  single  head.  A  body  of  trustees  transacted  busi- 
ness, and  made  reports  to  the  society,  not  regularly,  but  at  ir- 
regular intervals.  There  seems,  too,  to  have  been  a  speculative 
spirit  among  them,  for  while  in  1859  they  owned  ten  thousand 
acres  of  land  and  a  town,  which  must  have  been  worth  at  least 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars,  as  the  land  was  all  fenced  and 
improved,  and  the  town  was  uncommonly  well  built,*  they 
owed  at  that  time,  or  in  1860,  between  eighty  and  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars. 

Their  religious  life  was  very  simple.  They  had  no  paid 
preacher,  but  expected  their  leaders  to  labor  during  the  week 
with  the  rest.  On  Sunday  they  had  two  services  in  the  church — 
at  ten  in  the  morning,  and  between  six  and  seven  in  the  even- 
ing. At  these,  after  singing  and  prayer,  the  preacher  read  the 
Bible,  and  commented  on  what  he  read.  On  every  week-day 

*  Between  four  and  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  was  their  own  valu- 
ation; and  in  1860  a  report  given  in  one  of  the  briefs  of  a  lawsuit  gives 
their  assets  at  $864,000,  and  their  debts  at  less  than  $100,000. 


The  Bishop  Hill  Colony.  347 

evening,  unless  the  weather  was  bad,  they  held  a  similar  meet- 
ing, which  lasted  an  hour  and  a  half.  They  had  no  library, 
and  encouraged  no  reading  except  in  the  Bible,  teaching  that 
the  most  important  matter  for  every  man  was  to  get  a  thorough 
understanding  of  the  commandments  of  God.  They  had  for 
a  little  while  a  newspaper,  and  they  printed  at  the  neighbor- 
ing town  of  Galva,  which  was  their  business  centre,  an  edition 
of  their  hymn-book.*  They  discouraged  amusements,  as  tend- 
ing to  worldliness ;  and  though  they  appear  to  have  lived  happily 
and  without  disputes,  about  1859  they  discovered  that  their 
young  people,  who  had  grown  up  in  the  society,  were  discon- 
tented, found  the  community  life  dull,  did  not  care  for  the 
religious  views  of  the  society,  and  were  ready  to  break  up  the 
organization. 

When  this  discontent  arose,  the  looseness  of  the  organization 
was  fatal.  With  a  more  compact  and  energetic  administration, 
either  the  dissatisfied  elements  would  have  been  eliminated 
quietly,  or  the  causes  of  dissatisfaction,  mainly,  as  far  as  I  could 
understand,  the  dullness  of  the  life  and  the  lack  of  amuse- 
ments, would  have  been  removed.  But  with  a  loose  organiza- 
tion there  appears  to  have  been,  what  is  not  unnatural,  rigidity 
of  discipline.  There  was  no  power  any  where  to  make  changes. 
u  The  discontented  ones  wanted  a  change,  but  no  change  was 
possible :  it  was  often  discussed."  The  young  people  persuaded 
some  of  the  older  ones  to  be  of  their  mind,  and  thus  two  par- 
ties were  formed ;  and  after  many  meetings,  in  which  I  im- 
agine there  were  sometimes  bitter  words,  it  was  determined  in 
the  spring  of  1860  to  divide  the  property,  the  Olson  party,  as  it 
was  called,  including  two  thirds  of  the  membership,  determin- 
ing with  their  share  to  continue  the  community,  while  the  Jan- 
son  party  determined  on  individual  effort. 

Hereupon  two  thirds  of  the  real  and  personal  property  was 

*  "  Nagra  Sanger,  samt  Boner.  Forfatade  af  Erik  Janson.  Forenade 
Staterna,  Galva,  Ills.  S.  Cronsioe,  1857." 


348     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

set  apart  for  the  Olson  party,  but  for  a  whole  year  the  two  par- 
ties lived  together  at  Bishop  Hill.  In  1861  the  Janson  party 
divided  their  share  among  the  families  composing  it;  and  in 
the  same  year  the  disorganization  proceeded  another  step.  The 
Olson  party  fell  into  three  divisions.  In  1862,  finally,  all  the 
property  was  divided,  and  the  commune  ceased  to  exist. 

In  1860  a  receiver  had  been  appointed.  In  1861  Olaf  Jan- 
son  was  appointed  attorney  in  fact.  This  became  necessary, 
because,  besides  the  property,  there  were  debts ;  and  when  the 
trustees  were  removed  and  a  receiver  was  appointed,  the  ques- 
tion necessarily  came  up  how  the  debts  should  be  met.  The 
division  of  the  property  was  ma'de  by  a  committee  of  the  soci- 
ety, who  took  a  complete  inventory,  including  even  the  small- 
est household  articles;  and  at  the  time  there  seems  to  have 
been  no  complaint  of  unfairness.  The  whole  was  divided  into 
shares,  of  which  each  man  received  one,  and  women  and  chil- 
dren fractional  shares.  A  part  of  the  property  was  set  off,  suf- 
ficient, as  it  was  then  believed,  to  pay  off  the  indebtedness ;  but 
it  proved  insufficient,  and  finally  each  farm  given  to  a  mem- 
ber in  the  partition  was  saddled  with  a  share  of  indebtedness ; 
and  as  there  was  poor  management  after  the  disorganization 
began,  and  as  the  debt  constantly  increased  by  the  non-pay- 
ment of  interest,  there  are  now,  thirteen  years  after  the  final 
partition,  heavy  lawsuits  still  pending  in  the  courts  against  the 
colony  and  its  trustees. 

In  1861  the  community  raised  a  company  of  soldiers  for  the 
Union  army,  furnishing  both  privates  and  officers.  These 
fought  through  the  war,  and  one  of  the  younger  members  after 
the  war  was,  for  meritorious  conduct  and  promising  intellect, 
taken  as  a  scholar  at  West  Point,  where  he  was  graduated 
with  honor. 

At  present  Bishop  Hill  is  slowly  falling  into  decay.  The 
houses  are  still  mostly  inhabited  ;  there  are  several  shops  and 
stores ;  but  the  larger  buildings  are  out  of  repair ;  and  busi- 


The  Bishop  Hill  Colony.  349 

ness  lias  centred  at  Galva,  five  or  six  miles  distant.  Most  of 
the  former  communists  live  happily  on  their  small  farms.  A 
Methodist  church  has  been  built  in  the  village,  and  has  some 
attendants,  but  a  good  many  of  the  older  members  have  adopted 
the  Adventist  or  Millerite  faith,  which  appears  to  revive  after 
every  failure  of  prediction,  especially  in  the  West,  where  peo- 
ple seem  to  look  forward  with  a  quite  singular  pleasure  to  the 
fiery  end  of  all  things. 

On  the  whole,  it  is  a  melancholy  story.  It  shows  both  what 
can  be  achieved  by  combined  industry,  and  what  trifles  can 
destroy  such  an  organization  as  a  communistic  society.  It 
shows  the  extreme  importance  of  a  central  authority,  wisely 
administered  but  also  implicitly  obeyed;  able  therefore  to 
yield,  as  well  as  to  act,  promptly.  The  history  of  these  Bishop 
Hill  Communists  also  shows  the  necessity  of  great  caution  in 
all  financial  affairs  in  a  commune,  which  ought  to  avoid  debt 
like  the  plague,  and  to  live  financially  as  though  it  might 
break  up  at  any  moment. 

Not  only  were  debt  and  the  speculative  spirit  out  of  which 
debt  arose  the  causes  of  the  colony's  failure,  but  they  have 
brought  great  trouble  on  the  people  since.  Had  there  been  no 
debt,  the  commune  could  have  divided  its  property  among  the 
members  at  any  time,  without  loss  or  trouble ;  and  I  suspect 
that  the  possibility  of  such  an  immediate  division  might  have 
induced  the  people  to  keep  together. 

At  any  rate,  the  story  of  Bishop  Hill  shows  how  important 
it  would  be  to  a  community  agreeing  to  labor  and  produce  in 
common  for  a  limited  time  to  keep  free  from  debt. 


THE  CEDAR  VALE  COMMUNITY. 


THE  CEDAR  VALE  COMMUNITY. 


AT  Cedar  Yale,  in  Howard  County,  Kansas,  a  communistic 
society  has  been  founded,  which,  though  its  small  numbers 
might  make  it  insignificant,  is  remarkable  by  reason  of  the 
nationality  of  some  of  its  members. 

It  was  begun  three  years  ago,  and  the  purpose  of  its  project- 
ors was  "  to  achieve  both  communism  and  individual  freedom, 
or  to  lead  persons  of  all  kinds  of  opinions  to  labor  together 
for  their  common  welfare.  If  there  was  to  be  any  law,  it 
should  be  only  for  the  regulation  of  industry  or  hours  of  work." 
I  quote  this  from  the  letter  of  a  gentleman  who  is  familiar 
with  this  society,  and  who  has  been  kind  enough  to  send  me  its 
constitution,  and  to  give  me  the  following  particulars :  "  It 
is  now  three  years  since  the  founders  of  the  society  settled 
in  this  domain,  coming  here  entirely  destitute,  and  building 
first  as  a  residence  a  covered  burrow  in  a  hillside.  Two  of 
them  had  left  affluence  and  position  in  Russia,  and  subjected 
themselves  to  this  poverty  for  the  sake  of  their  principles.  Of 
course  they  suffered  here  from  fever,  from  insufficient  food, 
and  cold,  and  were  not  able  to  make  much  improvement  on 
the  place.  The  practical  condition  now,  though  insignificant 
from  the  common  point  of  view,  compared  with  what  has 
been,  is  very  satisfactory.  There  are  at  least  comfortable 
shelter  and  enough  to  eat,  and  this  year  sufficient  land  will 
be  fenced  and  planted  to  leave  a  surplus. 

"  The  propaganda  has  been  made  among  two  essentially  dif- 
fering classes  of  socialists — the  Russian  Materialists  and  the 

BB 


354     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

American  Spiritualists.  Both  these  classes  are  represented  in 
the  community,  and  thus  far  seem  to  live  in  harmony.  There 
are  here  a  '  hygienic  doctor'  and  a  '  reformed  clergyman,'  both 
Spiritualists,  and  a  Russian  sculptor  of  considerable  fame,  a 
Russian  astronomer,  and  a  very  pretty  and  devoted  and  won- 
derfully industrious  Russian  woman." 

The  printed  statement  made  by  the  community  I  copy 
here,  as  a  sufficient  account  of  its  numbers  and  possessions 
in  April,  1874 : 

"  The  PROGRESSIVE  COMMUNITY  is  located  near  Cedar  Vale,  Howard 
County,  Kansas,  has  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  choice  prairie 
land,  with  abundance  of  stock,  water,  and  with  all  advantages  for  suc- 
cessful farming,  stock  and  fruit  raising. 

"  The  nearest  railroad  station  .is  Independence,  Montgomery  County, 
Kansas,  fifty  miles  east  from  the  place. 

"The  community  was  established  in  January,  1871.  It  is  out  of  debt 
now,  and  has  a  fair  prospect  for  success  in  the  future. 

"  The  business  of  the  community  consists  chiefly  in  farming. 

"  Number  of  members  :  four  males ;  three  females ;  one  child.  Per- 
sons on  probation :  two  males ;  one  female ;  one  child. 

"  Improvements :  frame  house  ;  stable ;  forty  acres  under  fence  ;  four 
acres  of  orchard  and  vines. 

"  Live  stock  and  implements :  four  horses ;  four  oxen ;  three  cows  and 
calves. 

"  The  co-operation  of  earnest  communists  is  wanted  for  the  better  reali- 
zation of  a  true  home  based  on  Liberty,  Equality,  and  Fraternity. 

"  No  fee  is  required  from  those  who  visit  the  community,  but  their 
work  for  the  community  is  regarded  as  equivalent  to  their  current  ex- 
penses. 

"  The  principles  and  organization  of  the  community  can  be  seen  from 
the  following  constitution. 

"PREAMBLE. 

"  Whereas,  we  believe  that  man  is  not  only  an  individual  having  rights 
as  such,  but  also  owing  social  duties  to  others,  and  that  strict  justice  re- 
quires us  to  help  each  other,  and  that  our  highest  happiness  and  devel- 
opment can  only  be  attained  by  a  union  and  co-operation  of  interests  and 
efforts ;  Therefore,  we  pledge  ourselves  to  live 


The  Cedar  Vale  Community.  355 

'For  the  cause  that  lacks  assistance, 
For  the  wrong  that  needs  resistance, 
For  the  future  in  the  distance, 

And  the  good  that  we  can  do.' 

"  And  we,  whose  names  are  annexed,  hereby  organize  ourselves  under 
the  name  of  the  PROGRESSIVE  COMMUNITY,  and  agree  to  devote  our  labor 
and  means,  to  the  full  extent  of  our  ability,  to  carry  out  the  following 

"CONSTITUTION. 

"  ARTICLE  I. 

"  SEC.  1. — The  community  shall  be  considered  as  a  family.  The  mem- 
bers shall  unite  in  their  labor  and  business,  hold  their  property  in  com- 
mon for  the  use  of  all,  and  dwell  together  in  a  unitary  home. 

"  SEC.  2. — Each  member  shall  be  free  to  hold  whatever  opinions  his 
conscience  may  dictate ;  and  the  community  shall  make  no  restriction  or 
regulation  interfering  with  the  freedom  of  any,  except  when  his  actions 
conflict  with  the  rights  of  others. 

"  SEC.  3. — All  shall  be  alike  responsible  for  the  strict  observance  of  this 
constitution.  Equal  rights  and  privileges  shall  be  accorded  to  all  mem- 
bers ;  but  the  community  may  temporarily  withhold  from  a  member  the 
right  to  vote  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  rest. 

"  ARTICLE  II. 

"  SEC.  1. — All  matters  concerning  the  welfare  of  the  community  shall 
be  decided  by  the  members  at  their  meetings,  which  shall  be  of  the  fol- 
lowing kinds :  (1)  Daily  business  meetings  for  the  decision  of  daily  work ; 
(2)  Weekly  meetings  for  the  discussion  of  business  questions,  and  for  re- 
marks on  the  general  interests  and  welfare  of  the  community. 

"  SEC.  2. — All  decisions,  except  as  herein  otherwise  provided  for,  shall 
be  by  a  majority  of  three  fourths  of  all  the  members. 

"  SEC.  3. — Debts  may  be  contracted,  or  credit  given,  only  by  the  unani- 
mous vote  of  the  community. 

"  SEC.  4. — The  officers  of  the  community  shall  consist  of  a  president, 
secretary,  treasurer,  and  managers.  They  shall  be  elected  at  the  end  of 
each  year,  and  enter  on  the  duties  of  their  offices  on  the  first  of  January 
following,  being  subject  to  removal  at  any  time. 

"  SEC.  5. — The  president  shall  preside  at  all  meetings,  shall  see  that 
the  decisions  of  the  community  are  carried  out,  and  make  temporary  ar- 
rangements for  the  business  of  the  day  when  necessary. 

"  SEC.  6. — The  secretary  shall  record  the  proceedings  of  all  the  meet- 


356     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

ings  of  the  community,  attend  to  all  its  correspondence,  and  preserve  all 
the  valuable  documents  thereof. 

"  SEC.  7. — The  treasurer  shall  hold  the  fund  of  the  community,  and 
keep  an  accurate  account  of  all  money  received  or  expended ;  but  no 
money  shall  be  paid  out  except  as  appropriated  by  the  community.  He 
shall  make  a  report  at  each  business  meeting. 

"  SEC.  8. — The  managers  shall  control  the  different  departments  to 
which  they  are  elected,  decide  all  details  of  business,  if  not  previously 
acted  upon  by  the  community,  and  make  reports  at  each  business  meet- 
ing. 

"  AKTICLE  III. 

"  SEC.  1. — Any  person,  after  having  lived  in  the  community,  and  having 
become  thoroughly  acquainted  with  its  members  and  the  community  life, 
may  become  a  member  by  subscribing  to  this  constitution ;  provided  he 
is  accepted  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  community. 

"  SEC.  2. — All  property  which  members  may  have,  or  may  receive  from 
any  source  or  at  any  time,  shall  be  given  to  the  community  without  res- 
ervation or  return. 

"  SEC.  3. — The  members  shall  be  furnished  with  food,  clothing,  and  lodg- 
ing, care  and  attention  in  sickness,  misfortune,  infancy,  or  old  age,  and 
the  means  and  opportunity  for  a  complete  integral  education,  and  for 
such  other  necessary  requirements  as  the  community  can  afford;  and 
these  benefits  shall  be  guaranteed  by  the  whole  resources  of  the  com- 
munity. 

"  SEC.  4. — A  withdrawing  member  shall  not  bring  any  claim  against  the 
community  on  account  of  any  labor,  services,  or  property  given  thereto  ; 
but  his  current  expenses  and  the  advantages  of  the  community  life  shall 
be  considered  as  an  equivalent  therefor.  He  shall  be  allowed  to  take 
from  the  common  property  only  what  may  be  decided  upon  by  the  com- 
munity at  the  time  of  withdrawal. 

"  SEC.  5. — Children  of  the  members,  or  those  which  may  be  adopted  by 
the  community,  shall  be  considered  as  members  thereof;  they  shall  have 
equal  rights  as  herein  specified,  except  voting,  to  which  privilege  they 
shall  be  admitted  when  the  community  by  unanimous  consent  shall  think 
best,  and  after  signing  their  names  to  this  constitution. 

"  ARTICLE  IV. 

"  Any  amendments,  additions  to,  or  interpretations  of  this  constitution 
may  be  made  at  any  time  by  unanimous  vote  of  the  community." 


THE  SOCIAL  FREEDOM  COMMU- 
NITY. 


THIS  is  a  communistic  society,  established  in  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1874  in  Chesterfield  County,  Virginia.  It  has  as 
"full  members"  two  women,  one  man,  and  three  boys,  with 
four  women  and  five  men  as  "  probationary  members."  They 
have  a  farm  of  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  acres,  unencum- 
bered with  debt,  and  with  a  water-power  on  it;  and  are  at- 
tempting general  farming,  the  raising  of  medicinal  herbs,  saw- 
ing lumber  and  staves,  coopering,  and  the  grinding  of  grain. 
The  members  are  all  Americans. 

They  hold,  the  secretary  writes  me,  to  "  unity  of  interests, 
and  political,  religious,  and  social  freedom ;  and  believe  that 
every  individual  should  have  absolute  control  of  herself  or 
himself,  and  that,  so  long  as  they  respect  the  same  freedom  in 
others,  no  one  has  a  right  to  infringe  on  that  individuality." 
The  secretary  further  writes :  "  We  have  no  constitution  or  by- 
laws ;  ignore  the  idea  of  man's  total  depravity ;  and  believe 
that  all  who  are  actuated  by  a  love  of  truth  and  a  desire  to 
progress  (and  we  will  knowingly  accept  no  others),  can  be  bet- 
ter governed  by  love  and  moral  suasion  than  by  any  arbitrary 
laws.  Our  government  consists  in  free  criticism.  We  have  a 
unitary  home." 


COLONIES  WHICH  ARE  NOT 


COMMUNISTIC. 


COLONIES-NOT  COMMUNISTIC. 


I  HAVE  noticed  that  not  uufrequently  Yineland,  in  New 
Jersey,  and  Anaheim,  in  California,  are  classed  with  Commu- 
nistic Societies.  They  are  nothing  of  the  kind ;  and  only  one 
of  the  two — Anaheim,  namely — was  in  the  beginning  even 
co-operative. 

As,  however,  both  these  settlements  were  founded  under 
peculiar  circumstances,  and  as  both  show  what  can  be  achieved 
in  a  short  time  by  men  of  narrow  means,  acting  more  or  less 
in  concert  for  certain  purposes,  I  have  determined  to  give  here 
a  brief  history  of  the  two  places. 

Anaheim. 

Anaheim,  the  oldest  of  these  two  "  colonies,"  lies  in  Los 
Angeles  County,  in  Southern  California,  about  thirty  miles 
from  the  town  of  Los  Angeles,  and  ten  or  twelve  miles  from 
the  ocean,  upon  a  fertile  and  well- watered  plain.  In  its  settle- 
ment it  was  strictly  a  co-operative  enterprise. 

In  1857  several  Germans  in  San  Francisco  proposed  to  cer- 
tain of  their  countrymen  to  purchase  by  a  united  effort  a  tract 
of  land  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state,  cause  it  to  be  sub- 
divided into  small  farms,  and  procure  these  to  be  fenced, 
planted  with  grape-vines  and  trees,  and  otherwise  prepared 
for  the  settlement  of  the  owners.  After  some  deliberation, 
fifty  men  set  their  names  to  an  agreement  to  buy  eleven 
hundred  and  sixty-five  acres  of  land,  at  two  dollars  per  acre ; 
securing  water-rights  for  irrigation  with  the  purchase,  because 
in  that  region  the  dry  summers  necessitate  artificial  watering. 


362     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

The  originator  of  the  enterprise,  Mr.  Hansen,  of  Los  Ange- 
les, a  German  lawyer  and  civil  engineer,  a  man  of  culture,  was 
appointed  by  his  associates  to  select  and  secure  the  land ;  and 
eventually  he  became  the  manager  of  the  whole  enterprise,  up 
to  the  point  where  it  lost  its  co-operative  features  and  the 
members  took  possession  of  their  farms. 

The  Anaheim  associates  consisted  in  the  main  of  mechanics, 
and  they  had  not  a  farmer  among  them.  They  were  all  Ger- 
mans. There  were  several  carpenters,  a  gunsmith,  an  engraver, 
three  watch-makers,  four  blacksmiths,  a  brewer,  a  teacher,  a 
shoemaker,  a  miller,  a  hatter,  a  hotel  -  keeper,  a  bookbinder, 
four  or  five  musicians,  a  poet  (of  course),  several  merchants, 
and  some  teamsters.  It  was  a  very  heterogeneous  assembly; 
they  had  but  one  thing  in  common :  they  were  all,  with  one 
or  two  exceptions,  poor.  Yery  few  had  more  than  a  few  dol- 
lars saved ;  most  of  them  had  neither  cash  nor  credit  enough 
to  buy  even  a  twenty-acre  farm ;  and  none  of  them  were  in 
circumstances  which  promised  them  more  than  a  decent  liv- 
ing. 

The  plan  of  the  society  was  to  buy  the  land,  and  thereupon 
to  cause  it  to  be  subdivided  and  improved  as  I  have  said  by 
monthly  contributions  from  the  members,  who  were  meantime 
to  go  on  with  their  usual  employments  in  San  Francisco.  It 
was  agreed  to  divide  the  eleven  hundred  and  sixty-five  acres 
into  fifty  twenty-acre  tracts,  and  fifty  village  lots,  the  village 
to  stand  in  the  centre  of  the  purchase.  Fourteen  lots  were 
also  set  aside  for  school-houses  and  other  public  buildings. 

With  the  first  contribution  the  land  was  bought.  The  fifty 
associates  had  to  pay  about  fifty  dollars  each  for  this  purpose. 
This  done,  they  appointed  Mr.  Hansen  their  agent  to  make 
the  projected  improvements;  and  the}^  it  may  be  supposed, 
worked  a  little  more  steadily  and  lived  a  little  more  frugally 
in  San  Francisco.  He  employed  Spaniards  and  Indians  as 
laborers ;  and  what  he  did  was  to  dig  a  ditch  seven  miles  long 


Colonies — Not  Communistic.  363 

to  lead  water  out  of  the  Santa  Anna  Kiver,  with  four  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  of  subsidiary  ditches  and  twenty-five  miles  of 
feeders  to  lead  the  water  over  every  twenty-acre  lot.  This 
done,  he  planted  on  every  farm  eight  acres  of  grapes  and 
some  fruit-trees ;  and  on  the  whole  place  over  five  miles  of 
outside  willow  fencing  and  thirty-five  miles  of  inside  fencing. 
Willows  grow  rapidly  in  that  region,  and  make  a  very  close 
fence,  yielding  also  fire- wood  sufficient  for  the  farmer's  use. 

All  this  had  to  be  done  gradually,  so  that  the  payments  for 
labor  should  not  exceed  the  monthly  contributions  of  the  as- 
sociates, for  they  had  no  credit  to  use  in  the  beginning,  and 
contracted  no  debts. 

When  the  planting  was  done,  the  superintendent  cultivated 
and  pruned  the  grape-vines  and  trees,  and  took  care  of  the 
place ;  and  it  was  only  when  the  vines  were  old  enough  to 
bear,  and  thus  to  yield  an  income  at  once,  that  the  proprietors 
took  possession. 

At  the  end  of  three  years  the  whole  of  this  labor  had  been 
performed  and  paid  for ;  the  vines  were  ready  to  bear  a  crop, 
and  the  division  of  lots  took  place.  Each  shareholder  had  at 
this  time  paid  in  all  twelve  hundred  dollars ;  a  few,  I  have 
been  told,  fell  behind  somewhat,  but  were  helped  by  some  of 
their  associates  who  were  in  better  circumstances.  If  we  sup- 
pose that  most  of  the  members  had  no  money  laid  by  at  the 
beginning  of  the  enterprise,  it  would  appear  that  during  three 
years  they  saved,  over  and  above  their  living,  somewhat  less 
than  eight  dollars  a  week — a  considerable  sum,  but  easily  pos- 
sible at  that  time  in  California  to  a  good  and  steady  mechanic. 

It  was  inevitable  that  some  of  the  small  farms  should  be 
more  valuable  than  others ;  and  there  was  naturally  a  differ- 
ence, too,  in  the  village  lots.  To  make  the  division  fairly,  all 
the  places  were  viewed,  and  a  schedule  was  made  of  them,  on 
which  each  was  assessed  at  a  certain  price,  varying  from  six 
hundred  to  fourteen  hundred  dollars,  according  to  its  situation, 


364     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

the  excellence  of  its  fruit,  etc.  They  were  then  distributed 
by  a  kind  of  lottery,  with  the  condition  that  if  the  farm 
drawn  was  valued  in  the  schedule  over  twelve  hundred  dol- 
lars, he  who  drew  it  should  pay  into  the  general  treasury 
the  surplus ;  if  it  was  valued  at  less,  he  who  drew  it  received 
from  the  common  fund  a  sum  which,  added  to  the  value  of  his 
farm,  equaled  twelve  hundred  dollars.  Thus  A,  who  drew 
a  fourteen-hundred-dollar  lot,  paid  two  hundred  dollars;  B, 
who  drew  a  six-hundred-dollar  lot,  received  six  hundred  dol- 
lars additional  in  cash. 

The  property  was  by  this  time  in  such  a  state  of  improve- 
ment that  money  could  readily  be  borrowed  on  the  security  of 
these  small  farms.  Moreover,  when  the  drawing  was  com- 
pleted, there  was  a  sale  of  the  effects  of  the  company — horses, 
tools,  etc. ;  and  on  closing  all  the  accounts  and  balancing  the 
books,  it  was  found  that  there  remained  a  sum  of  money  in  the 
general  treasury  sufficient  to  give  each  of  the  fifty  shareholders 
a  hundred  dollars  in  cash  as  a  final  dividend. 

When  this  was  done,  the  co-operative  feature  of  the  enter- 
prise disappeared.  The  members,  each  in  his  own  good  time, 
settled  on  their  farms.  Lumber  was  bought  at  wholesale,  and 
they  began  to  build  their  houses.  Fifty  families  make  a 
little  town  in  any  of  our  Western  States,  suffiicently  important 
to  attract  traders.  The  village  lots  at  once  acquired  a  value, 
and  some  were  sold  to  shopkeepers.  A  school  was  quickly 
established ;  mechanics  of  different  kinds  came  down  to  Ana- 
heim to  work  for  wages;  and  the  colonists  in  fact  gathered 
about  them  at  once  many  conveniences  which,  if  they  had 
settled  singly,  they  could  not  have  commanded  for  some  years. 

They  were  still  poor,  however.  But  few  of  them  were  able 
even  to  build  the  slight  house  needed  in  that  climate  without 
running  into  debt.  For  borrowed  money  they  had  to  pay 
from  two  to  three  per  cent,  per  month  interest.  Moreover, 
none  of  them  were  farmers ;  and  they  had  to  learn  to  cultivate, 


Colonies — Not  Communistic.  365 

prune,  and  take  care  of  their  vines,  to  make  wine,  and  to  make 
a  vegetable  garden.  They  had  from  the  first  to  raise  and 
sell  enough  for  their  own  support,  and  to  pay  at  least  the  heavy 
interest  on  their  debts.  It  resulted  that  for  some  years  longer 
they  had  a  struggle  with  a  burden  of  debt,  and  had  to  live 
with  great  economy.  But  the  people  told  me  that  they  had 
always  enough  to  eat,  a  good  school  for  their  children,  and  the 
immense  satisfaction  of  being  their  own  employers.  "  We  had 
music  and  dancing  in  those  days;  and,  though  we  were  very 
poor,  I  look  back  to  those  times  as  the  happiest  in  all  our 
lives,"  said  one  man  to  me. 

And  they  gradually  got  out  of  debt.  Not  one  failed.  The 
sheriff  has  never  sold  out  any  one  In  Anaheim ;  and  only  one 
of  the  original  settlers  had  left  the  place  when  I  saw  it  in 
1872.  They  have  no  destitute  people.  Their  vineyards  give 
them  an  annual  clear  income  of  from  two  hundred  and  fifty 
to  one  thousand  dollars  over  and  above  their  living  expenses ; 
their  children  have  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  social  life  and 
a  fairly  good  school.  And,  finally,  the  property  which  origi- 
nally cost  them  an  average  of  one  thousand  and  eighty  dollars 
for  each,  is  now  worth  from  five  to  ten  thousand  dollars. 
They  live  well,  and  feel  themselves  as  independent  as  though 
they  were  millionaires. 

Now  this  was  an  enterprise  which  any  company  of  prudent 
mechanics,  with  a  steadfast  purpose,  might  easily  imitate. 
The  founders  of  Anaheim  were  not  picked  men.  I  have  been 
told  that  they  were  not  without  jealousies  and  suspicions  of 
each  other  and  of  their  manager,  which  made  his  life  often 
uncomfortable*  and  threatened  the  life  of  the  undertaking. 
They  had  grumblers,  fault-finders,  and  wiseacres  in  their  com- 
pany, as  probably  there  will  be  among  any  company  of  fifty 
men ;  and  I  have  heard  that  Mr.  Hansen,  who  was  their  able 
and  honest  manager,  declared  that  he  would  rather  starve  than 
conduct  another  such  enterprise. 


366     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

They  were  extremely  fortunate  to  have  for  their  manager 
an  honest,  patient,  and  sufficiently  able  man ;  and  such  a  leader 
is  indeed  the  corner-stone  of  an  undertaking  of  this  kind. 
Granted  a  man  sufficiently  wise  and  honest,  in  whom  his  asso- 
ciates can  have  confidence,  and  there  needs  only  moderate  pa- 
tience, perseverance,  and  economy,  in  the  body  of  the  company, 
to  achieve  success.  Nor  could  I  help  noticing,  when  I  was  at 
Anaheim,  that  the  experience  and  training  which  men  gain  in 
carrying  to  success — no  matter  through  what  struggles  of  pov- 
erty, self-denial,  and  debt — such  an  enterprise,  has  an  admirable 
effect  on  their  characters.  The  men  of  Anaheim  were  origi- 
nally a  very  common  class  of  mechanics ;  they  have  stepped  up 
to  a  higher  plane  of  life — they  are  masters  of  their  own  lives. 
This  result — namely,  the  training  of  families  in  the  hardier 
virtues,  their  elevation  to  a  higher  moral  as  well  as  physical 
standard — is  certainly  not  to  be  overlooked  by  any  thoughtful 
man. 

Vineland. 

Yineland  was  not  a  co-operative  enterprise.  It  is  the  land- 
speculation  of  a  long-headed,  kind-hearted  man,  who  believed 
that  he  could  form  a  settlement  profitable  and  advantageous 
to  many  people,  and  with  pecuniary  benefit  to  himself.  Until 
the  year  1861,  the  southern  part  of  New  Jersey  contained  a 
large  region  known  as  "  the  Barrens,"  and  very  sparsely  settled 
with  a  rude  and  unthrifty  population.  The  light  soil  was  sup- 
posed to  be  unfit  for  profitable  agriculture;  and  the  country 
for  miles  was  covered  with  scrub  pine  and  small  oak  timber, 
used  chiefly  for  charcoal,  and  as  fuel  for  some  glass  factories 
at  Millville  and  Glassborough.  Much  of  this  land  was  owned 
in  large  tracts,  and  brought  in  but  a  small  revenue.  When  the 
West  Jersey  Railroad,  connecting  Cape  May  with  Philadelphia, 
was  completed,  it  ran  through  many  miles  of  these  "  Barrens," 
and  some  of  the  owners,  tired  of  a  property  which  in  their 
hands  had  little  value,  were  ready  to  sell  out. 


Colonies — Not  Communistic.  367 

Charles  K.  Landis  had  conceived  the  idea  of  forming  a  col- 
ony, upon  certain  plans  which  he  had  matured  in  his  own 
mind.  His  attention  was  attracted  to  this  region,  and  after 
examining  the  soil  and  the  general  character  of  the  region,  he 
bought  sixteen  thousand  acres  in  one  parcel.  To  this  he  add- 
ed, soon  after,  another  purchase  of  fourteen  thousand  acres, 
making  thirty  thousand  in  all.  He  has  bought  lately  (in  1874) 
twenty-three  thousand  acres  more. 

The  country  is  a  rolling  plain,  densely  overgrown  with  small 
wood,  with  one  or  two  streams  running  through  it ;  with  wa- 
ter obtainable  at  from  fifteen  to  thirty  feet  every  where,  and 
perfectly  healthy.  Mr.  Landis  took  possession  in  August,  1861, 
and  at  once  began  to  develop  the  land  according  to  his  own 
ideas.  He  laid  out,  first,  the  town  site  of  Vineland,  in  the 
centre  of  the  tract ;  next  had  the  adjacent  plain  surveyed,  and 
laid  out  into  tracts  of  ten,  twenty,  and  fifty  acres ;  laid  out 
and  opened  roads,  so  as  to  make  these  small  parcels  accessible ; 
and  then  he  began  to  advertise  for  settlers. 

His  offer  was  to  sell  the  land,  lying  within  thirty-four  miles 
of  Philadelphia  by  railroad,  in  tracts  of  from  ten  to  forty  or 
sixty  acres,  at  twenty-five  dollars  per  acre,  guaranteeing  a  clear 
title,  and  giving  reasonable  credit,  but  requiring  the  purchas- 
ers to  make  certain  improvements  within  a  year  after  buying. 
These  consisted  of  a  house — which  need  not  be  costly — the 
clearing  of  some  acres  of  ground,  and  the  planting  of  shade- 
trees  along  the  road-side,  and  sowing  a  strip  of  this  road-side 
with  some  kind  of  grass.  It  was  also  stipulated  that  if  the 
owner,  in  after -years,  neglected  his  road -side  adornment,  it 
should  be  kept  in  order  by  the  town  at  his  cost. 

Mr.  Landis  had  procured  the  passage  of  a  law  prohibiting 
the  straying  of  cattle  within  the  limits  of  the  township  in 
which  his  estate  lay ;  and  consequently  the  new  settlers  were 
not  obliged  to  build  fences.  This  was  an  immense  saving  to 
the  people,  who  came  in  mostly  with  small  means.  Yin  eland 


368     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

has  to-day  between  eleven  thousand  and  twelve  thousand  peo- 
ple ;  it  has  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  of  roads ;  and 
it  is  probable  that  the  "  no  fence  "  regulation,  as  it  is  called, 
has  saved  the  inhabitants  at  least  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars. 

He  prevented  in  the  beginning,  with  the  most  solicitous  care, 
the  establishment  of  bar-rooms  or  dram-shops  on  the  tract ;  the 
Legislature  gave  permission  to  the  people  of  the  township,  by 
an  annual  vote,  to  decide  whether  the  sale  of  liquor  at  retail 
should  be  allowed  or  forbidden,  and  they  have  constantly  for- 
bidden it,  to  their  immense  advantage. 

He  endeavored  as  soon  as  possible  to  establish  factories  in 
the  village,  and  succeeded  so  well  in  this  that  there  has  long 
been  a  local  market  for  a  part  of  the  products  of  the  place. 

He  founded  and  encouraged  library,  horticultural,  and  other 
societies,  helped  in  the  building  of  churches,  and  paid  particu- 
lar attention  to  obtaining  for  the  people  facilities  for  market- 
ing their  products  advantageously. 

In  all  these  concerns  he  sought  the  advantage  of  the  settlers 
on  his  lands,  knowing  that  their  prosperity  would  make  him 
also  prosperous. 

But  one  other  part  of  his  plan  appears  to  me  to  have  been 
of  extraordinary  importance,  though  usually  it  is  n6t  men- 
tioned in  descriptions  of  Yineland.  Mr.  Landis  established  the 
price  of  his  own  uncultivated  lands  at  twenty-five  dollars  per 
acre.  At  that  price  he  sold  to  the  first  settler;  and  that  price 
he  did  not  increase  for  many  years.  Any  one  could,  within 
two  or  three  years,  buy  wild  land  on  the  Yineland  tract  at 
twenty-five  dollars  per  acre.  This  means  that  he  did  not  spec- 
ulate upon  the  improvements  of  the  settlers.  He  gave  to  them 
the  advantage  of  their  labors.  It  resulted  that  many  poor 
men  bought,  cleared,  and  planted  places  in  Yineland  on  pur- 
pose to  sell  them,  certain  that  they  could,  if  they  wished,  buy 
more  land  at  the  same  price  of  twenty-five  dollars  per  acre 
which  they  originally  paid. 


Colonies— Not  Communistic.  369 

ILL  my  judgment,  this  feature  of  the  Vineland  enterprise,  more 
than  any  other,  changed  it  from  a  merely  selfish  speculation  to 
one  of  a  higher  order,  in  which  the  settlers,  to  a  large  extent, 
have  a  common  interest  with  the  proprietor  of  the  land.  He 
might  have  done  all  the  rest — might  have  laid  out  roads,  pro- 
claimed a  "no  fence"  law,  prevented  the  establishment  of 
dram-shops,  helped  on  educational  and  other  enterprises — and 
still,  had  he  raised  the  price  of  his  wild  lands  as  the  settlers 
increased,  he  would  have  been  a  mere  land  speculator,  and  I 
doubt  if  his  scheme  would  have  obtained  more  than  a  very 
moderate  and  short-lived  success.  But  the  undertaking  to  sell 
his  wild  land  always  at  the  one  fixed  price,  not  only  gave  later 
comers  an  advantage  which  attracted  them  with  a  constantly 
increasing  force,  but  it  gave  the  poorer  settlers  an  occupation 
from  which  many  of  them  gained  handsomely — the  improve- 
ment of  places  to  sell  to  new-comers  with  capital.  The  result 
showed  Mr.  Landis's  wisdom.  Improved  property,  cleared  and 
planted  in  fruit,  has  always  borne  a  high  price  in  Vineland, 
and  has  almost  always  had  a  ready  sale,  but  there  has  never 
been  any  feverish  land  speculation  there. 

In  twelve  years  the  founder  of  Vineland  was  able  to  collect 
upon  his  tract — which  had  not  a  single  inhabitant  in  1861 — 
about  eleven  thousand  people.  Most  of  these  have  improved 
their  condition  in  life  materially  by  settling  there.  Many  of 
them  came  without  sufficient  capital,  and  no  doubt  suffered 
from  want  in  the  early  days  of  their  Vineland  life.  But  if 
they  persevered,  two  or  three  years  of  effort  made  them  com- 
fortable. Meantime  they  had,  what  our  American  farmers 
have  not  in  general,  easy  access  to  good  schools  for  their  chil- 
dren, to  churches  and  an  intelligent  society,  and  the  possibility 
of  good  laws  regarding  the  sale  of  liquor. 

Vineland  was  settled  largely  by  New  England  people.  They 
are  more  restless  and  changeable  than  the  Germans  of  Ana- 
heim: less  easily  contented  with  mere  comfort.  The  New- 

Cc 


370     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Englander  seems  to  me  to  like  change,  often,  for  its  own  sake ; 
the  German  too  frequently  goes  to  the  other  extreme,  and  so 
greatly  abhors  change  that  he  does  without  conveniences  which 
he  might  well  afford.  Anaheim  and  Vineland  differ  in  these 
respects,  as  the  character  of  their  inhabitants  differs.  But  in 
both,  no  one  can  doubt  that  the  people  have  been  greatly  ben- 
efited by  the  colonizing  experiment ;  that  they  not  merely  live 
better,  but  have  a  higher  standard  of  thinking  as  well,  and  are 
thus  better  citizens  than  they  would  have  been  had  they  re- 
mained in  their  original  employments  and  abodes. 

Some  of  the  striking  practical  and  moral  results  of  the  Vine- 
land  plan  of  colonization  were  set  forth  by  Mr.  Landis  in  a 
speech  before  the  Legislature  of  New  Jersey  last  year ;  and 
the  following  extracts  from  this  address  are  of  interest  in  this 
place.  He  said : 

"  When  I  first  projected  the  colony,  in  1861,  what  is  now  Vineland  lay 
before  me  an  unbroken  wilderness.  Nothing  was  to  be  heard  but  the 
song  of  birds  to  break  the  silence,  which  at  times  was  oppressive.  It  was 
necessary  that  the  fifty  square  miles  of  territory  should  be  suddenly,  thor- 
oughly, and  permanently  improved.  The  land  was  in  good  part  to  be 
paid  for  out  of  the  proceeds  of  sale.  One  hundred  and  seventy  miles  of 
public  roads  and  other  improvements  were  to  be  made,  and  the  improve- 
ments were  to  be  such  as  to  insure  the  prosperity  of  the  colonist  in  future 
years,  as  my  outlay  was  in  the  early  start  of  the  settlement,  and  my  returns 
were  not  to  be  realized  for  years  to  come.  If  the  settlement  should  not 
be  prosperous  in  these  years  to  come,  I  could  never  realize  my  reward, 
and  besides,  ruin,  involving  character  and  fortune,  stared  me  in  the  face. 
It  was  by  no  temporary  efforts  or  expedients  that  I  could  succeed,  but  by 
fixing  upon  certain  principles,  calculated  to  be  creative,  healthful,  and  per- 
manent in  their  influences — principles  which,  while  they  benefited  each 
colonist  day  by  day,  would  have  a  growing  influence  in  developing  the 
prosperity  of  the  colony.  What  were  these  principles  ? 

"  1.  That  no  land  should  be  sold  to  speculators  who  would  not  improve, 
but  only  to  persons  who  would  agree  to  improve  in  a  specified  time,  and 
also  to  plant  shade-trees  in  front  of  their  places,  and  seed  the  road-sides 
to  grass  for  purposes  of  public  utility  and  ornamentation. 

"  2.  That  no  man  should  be  compelled  to  erect  fences,  that  his  neighbor's 


Colonies — Not  Communistic.  371 

cattle  might  roam  at  large ;  but  that  the  old  and  shiftless  and  wasteful 
system  should  be  done  away  with. 

"  3.  That  the  public  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks  should  be  prohibited,' 
and  that  this  prohibition  should  be  obtained  by  leaving  it  to  a  vote  of 
the  people. 

"  By  the  first  principle,  the  continual  improvement  of  the  land  was 
secured.  Employment  was  furnished  to  laborers  at  remunerative  prices. 
The  value  of  the  land  was  increased  by  the  mutual  effort  of  the  colonists. 
The  value  of  my  land  was  also  enhanced,  and  it  was  made  more  and  more 
marketable. 

"  By  the  second  principle,  a  vast  and  constant  expense  was  saved — 
greater  than  the  cost  and  annual  interest  upon  all  the  railroads  of  the 
United  States.  Stock  was  improved,  the  cultivation  of  root  crops  was 
encouraged,  and  the  economizing  of  fertilizers. 

"  By  the  third  principle,  the  money,  the  health,  and  the  industry  of  the 
people  were  conserved,  that  they  might  all  be  devoted  to  the  work  be- 
fore them. 

"  I  am  in  candor  compelled  to  say  that  I  did  not  introduce  the  local- 
option  principle  into  Vineland  from  any  motives  of  philanthropy.  I  am 
not  a  temperance  man  in  the  total-abstinence  sense.  I  introduced  the 
principle  because  in  cool,  abstract  thought  I  conceived  it  to  be  of  vital 
importance  to  the  success  of  my  colony.  If  in  this  thought  I  had  seen 
that  liquor  made  men  more  industrious,  more  skillful,  more  economical, 
and  more  aesthetic  in  their  tastes,  I  certainly  should  then  have  made  liquor- 
selling  one  of  the  main  principles  of  my  project. 

********* 

u  The  question  then  came  up  as  to  how  I  could  give  such  direction  to 
public  opinion  as  would  regulate  this  difficulty.  Many  persons  had  the 
idea  that  no  place  could  prosper  without  taverns — that  to  attract  busi- 
ness and  strangers  taverns  were  necessary.  I  could  not  accomplish  my 
object  by  the  influence  of  total-abstinence  men,  as  they  were  too  few  in 
numbers  in  proportion  to  the  whole  community.  I  had  long  perceived 
that  there  was  no  such  thing  as  reaching  the  result  by  the  moral  influ- 
ence brought  to  bear  on  single  individuals — that  to  benefit  an  entire 
community,  the  law  or  regulation  would  have  to  extend  to  the  entire 
community.  In  examining  the  evil,  I  found  also  that  the  moderate  use  of 
liquor  was  not  the  difficulty  to  contend  against,  but  it  was  the  immoder- 
ate use  of  it. 

"  The  question,  then,  was  to  bring  the  reform  to  bear  upon  what  led  to 


372     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

the  immoderate  use  of  it.  I  found  that  few  or  none  ever  became  intoxi- 
cated in  their  own  families,  in  the  presence  of  their  wives  and  children, 
but  that  the  drunkards  were  made  in  the  taverns  and  saloons.  After  this 
conclusion  was  reached,  the  way  appeared  clear.  It  was  not  necessary  to 
make  a  temperance  man  of  each  individual — it  was  not  necessary  to  abridge 
the  right  or  privilege  that  people  might  desire  to  have  of  keeping  liquor 
in  their  own  houses,  but  to  get  their  consent  to  prevent  the  public  sale  of 
it  by  the  small — that  people  in  bartering  would  not  be  subject  to  the  cus- 
tom of  dri  iking — that  they  would  not  have  the  opportunity  of  drinking 
in  bar-rooms,  away  from  all  home  restraint  or  influence ;  in  short,  I  be- 
lieved that  if  the  public  sale  of  liquor  was  stopped  either  in  taverns  or  beer 
saloons,  the  knife  would  reach  the  root  of  the  evil.  The  next  thing  to  do 
was  to  deal  with  settlers  personally  as  they  bought  land,  and  to  counsel 
with  them  as  to  the  best  thing  to  be  done.  In  conversation  with  them 
I  never  treated  it  as  a  moral  question — I  explained  to  them  that  I  was 
not  a  total-abstinence  man  myself,  but  that  on  account  of  the  liability  of 
liquor  to  abuse  when  placed  in  seductive  forms  at  every  street  corner, 
and  as  is  the  usual  custom  that  followed  our  barbarous  law  that  it  incited 
to  crime,  and  made  men  unfortunate  who  would  otherwise  succeed ;  that 
most  of  the  settlers  had  little  money  to  begin  with,  sums  varying  from 
two  hundred  to  one  thousand  dollars,  which,  if  added  to  a  man's  labor, 
would  be  enough  in  many  cases  to  obtain  him  a  home,  but  which  taken 
to  the  tavern  would  melt  away  like  snow  before  a  spring  sun ;  that  new 
places  were  liable  to  have  this  abuse  to  a  more  terrible  extent  than  old 
places,  as  men  were  removed  from  the  restraints  of  old  associations,  and 
in  the  midst  of  the  excitement  of  forming  new  acquaintances ;  and  that 
it  was  a  notorious  fact  that  liquor-drinking  did  not  add  to  the  inclina- 
tion for  physical  labor.  I  then  asked  them— for  the  sake  of  their  sons, 
brothers,  friends— to  help  establish  the  new  system,  as  I  believed  it  to  be 
the  foundation-stone  of  our  future  prosperity. 

"  To  these  self-evident  facts  they  would  almost  all  accede.  Many  of 
them  had  witnessed  the  result  of  liquor-selling  in  the  new  settlements  of 
the  Far  West,  and  were  anxious  to  escape  from  it.  The  Local-Option  Law 
of  Vineland  was  not  established,  therefore,  by  temperance  men  or  total- 
abstinence  men  only,  but  by  the  citizens  generally,  upon  broad  social  and 
public  principles.  It  has  since  been  maintained  in  the  same  way.  Prob- 
ably not  one  tenth  of  the  number  of  voters  in  Vineland  are  what  may  be 
called  total-abstinence  men.  I  explain  this  point  to  show  that  this  re- 
form was  not  the  result  of  mere  fanaticism,  but  the  sense  of  the  people 


Colonies — Not  Communistic.  373 

generally,  and  that  the  people  who  succeed  under  it  are  such  people  as 
almost  all  communities  are  composed  of.  This  law  has  been  practically 
in  operation  since  the  beginning  of  the  settlement  in  the  autumn  of  1861, 
though  the  act  of  the  Legislature  empowering  the  people  of  Landis  Town- 
ship to  vote  upon  license  or  no  license  was  not  passed  until  1863.  The 
vote  has  always  stood  against  license  by  overwhelming  majorities,  there 
being  generally  only  from  two  to  nine  votes  in  favor  of  liquor-selling. 
The  population  of  the  Vineland  tract  is  about  ten  thousand  five  hundred 
people,  consisting  of  manufacturers  and  business  people  upon  the  town 
plot  in  the  centre,  and,  around  this  centre,  of  farmers  and  fruit-growers. 
The  most  of  the  tract  is  in  Landis  Township.  I  will  now  give  statistics 
of  police  and  poor  expenses  of  this  township  for  the  past  six  years : 

POLICE  EXPENSES.  POOR  EXPENSES. 


1867 $50  00 

1868... - 50  00 

1869 75  00 

1870 7500 

1871 .  150  00 


1867 $400  00 

1868 425  00 

1869 425  00 

1870 350  00 

1871..  .    400  00 


1872 25  00  j  1872 350  00 

"  These  figures  speak  for  themselves,  but  they  are  not  all.  There  is  a 
material  and  industrial  prosperity  existing  in  Vineland  which,  though  I 
say  it  myself,  is  unexampled  in  the  history  of  colonization,  and  must  be 
due  to  more  than  ordinary  causes.  The  influence  of  temperance  upon 
the  health  and  industry  of  her  people  is  no  doubt  the  principal  of  these 
causes.  Started  when  the  country  was  plunged  in  civil  war,  its  progress 
was  continually  onward.  Young  as  the  settlement  was,  it  sent  its  quota 
of  men  to  the  field,  and  has  paid  over  $60,000  of  war  debts.  The  settle- 
ment has  built  twenty  fine  school-houses,  ten  churches,  and  kept  up  one 
of  the  finest  systems  of  road  improvements,  covering  one  hundred  and 
seventy-eight  miles,  in  this  country.  There  are  now  some  fifteen  manu- 
facturing establishments  on  the  Vineland  tract,  and  they  are  constantly 
increasing  in  number.  Her  stores  in  extent  and  building  will  rival  any 
other  place  in  South  Jersey.  There  are  four  post-offices  on  the  tract. 
The  central  one  did  a  business  last  year  of  $4800  mail  matter,  and  a  mon- 
ey-order business  of  $78,922. 

"Out  of  seventy-seven  townships  in  the  state,  by  the  census  of  1869 
Landis  Township  ranked  the  fourth  from  the  highest  in  the  agricultural 
value  of  its  productions.  There  are  seventeen  miles  of  railroad  upon  the 
tract,  embracing  six  railway  stations. 


374     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"  The  result  of  my  project  as  a  land  enterprise  has  been  to  the  interest 
of  the  colonists  as  well  as  iny  own.  Town  lots  that  I  sold  for  $150 
have  been  resold  for  from  $500  to  $1500,  exclusive  of  improvements. 
Land  that  I  sold  for  $25  per  acre  has  much  of  it  been  resold  at  from  $200 
to  $500  per  acre.  This  rule  will  hold  good  for  miles  of  the  territory — 
all  resulting  from  the  great  increase  of  population  and  the  prosperity  of 
the  people. 

"  Were  licenses  for  saloons  and  taverns  obtainable  with  the  same  ease 
as  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  many  country  districts,  Vineland 
would  probably  have,  according  to  its  population,  from  one  to  two  hun- 
dred such  places.  Counting  them  at  one  hundred,  this  would  with- 
draw from  the  pursuits  of  productive  industry  about  one  hundred  fami- 
lies, which  would  give  a  population  of  six  hundred  people.  Each  of 
these  places  would  sell  about  $3000  worth  of  beer  and  liquor  per  annum, 
making  $300,000  worth  of  stimulants  a  year.  I  include  beer  saloons,  as 
liquor  can  be  obtained  in  them  all  as  a  general  thing,  and  in  the  electric- 
al climate  of  America  beer  leads  to  similar  results  as  spirits.  Think  of 
the  effect  of  $300,000  worth  of  stimulants  upon  the  health,  the  minds,  and 
the  industry  of  our  people.  Think  of  the  increase  of  crime  and  pauper- 
ism—the average  would  be  fully  equal  to  other  places  in  which  liquor 
is  sold.  Instead  of  having  a  police  expense  of  $50,  and  poor  expenses  of 
$400  per  annum,  the  amount  would  be  swollen  to  thousands.  Homes 
that  are  now  happy  would  be  made  desolate,  and,  instead  of  peace  reign- 
ing in  our  midst,  we  should  have  war— the  same  war  that  is  now  carried 
on  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  in  the  conflict  that  is 
waged  with  crime,  where  blood  is  daily  shed,  where  houses  are  daily  fired, 
where  helpless  people  are  daily  robbed,  and  the  darkest  of  crimes  daily 
perpetrated.  Concentrate  the  work  of  this  war  that  is  carried  on  through- 
out the  land  for  one  day,  and  you  will  have  as  many  people  killed  and 
wounded,  houses  fired  or  plundered,  as  in  the  sack  of  a  city. 

"  The  results  in  Vineland  have  convinced  me — 

"  1.  That  temperance  does  conserve  the  industry  of  the  people. 

"  2.  That  temperance  is  conducive  to  a  refined  and  sesthetical  taste. 

"  3.  That  temperance  can  be  sufficiently  secured  in  a  community  by 
suppressing  all  the  taverns  and  saloons,  to  protect  it  from  the  abuse  of  ex- 
cessive liquor-drinking.  Here  is  a  community  where  crime  and  pauper- 
ism are  almost  unknown,  where  taxes  are  nominal,  where  night  is  not 
made  hideous  by  the  vilest  of  noises,  where  a  man's  children  are  not  con- 
taminated by  the  evil  language  and  influence  of  drunkards." 


Colonies — Not  Communistic.  375 

The  following  letter  from  the  deputy  sheriff  of  Yineland 
gives  the  practical  result  of  the  Yineland  system  of  moral  co- 
operation, as  it  may  be  called : 

"  VmET.ANP,  December  4, 1873. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — The  poor  tax  in  this  township  amounts  to  about  Jive  cents  to 
each  inhabitant  per  annum,  and  our  special  expense  for  police  matters, 
when  any  body  happens  to  be  engaged  on  an  emergence,  amounts  to  an 
average  expense  of  about  one  half  cent  each.  In  fact,  it  may  be  said  we 
have  little  or  no  crime  or  breach  of  the  peace ;  and,  though  I  am  no  total- 
abstinence  man,  I  ascribe  this  state  of  things  to  the  absence  of  liquor 
shops,  and  on  this  account  have  always  voted  against  licensing.  Before 
I  came  here  I  acted  as  constable  in  Massachusetts,  and  have  been  deputy 
sheriff  and  overseer  of  the  poor  for  five  years,  and  I  know  from  actual  ob- 
servation that  more  happiness  is  secured  to  men  themselves,  to  their  wives 
and  children,  and  more  peace  to  the  home,  than  by  any  other  cause  in 
the  world,  not  excepting  all  the  churches — so  help  me  God  ! 

"  Yours  respectfully,  T.  T.  CORTIS,  Deputy  Sheriff." 

In  the  journal  from  which  I  take  this  letter  it  is  stated  that 
the  poor  and  police  expenses  of  Perth  Amboy,  also  in  New 
Jersey,  amount  in  the  same  year  to  two  dollars  per  head !  The 
figures  need  no  comment. 

Prairie  Home. 

The  Prairie  Home  Colony,  in  Franklin  County,  Kansas,  was 
established  by  a  French  gentleman,  E.  Y.  Boissiere.  He  owns 
three  thousand  acres  of  land,  and  has  been  engaged  during  the 
last  three  years  in  putting  it  in  order  for  settlement,  upon  a 
plan  to  which  he  gives  the  title,  "Association  and  Co-opera- 
tion, based  on  Attractive  Industry."  So  far  as  the  details  of 
his  plan  are  developed,  it  appears  that  he  wishes  to  secure  to 
colonists  constant  employment  at  reasonable  wages,  and  to  en- 
able them  to  live  in  an  economical  manner.  It  is  evident  from 
what  follows  that  he  does  not  intend  to  establish  a  benevolent 
institution,  and  that  at  Prairie  Home  there  will  be  no  accom- 
modations for  idlers.  I  reprint  here  a  circular,  which  is  is- 


376     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

sued  by  Mr.  Boissiere,  and  parts  of  a  private  note  from  him,  in 
which,  in  March,  1874,  he  gave  me  some  particulars  of  the 
progress  of  his  enterprise  : 

"  A  domain  of  more  than  three  thousand  acres,  purchased  about  four 
years  ago,  and  then  called  the  '  Kansas  Co-operative  Farm,'  but  since 
named  '  Silkville,1  from  the  fact  that  the  weaving  of  silk-velvet  ribbons 
is  one  of  its  branches  of  industry,  and  silk-culture  is  contemplated,  for 
which  ten  thousand  mulberry-trees  are  now  thriftily  growing,  having  had 
two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  subjected  to  cultivation,  and  several  prelim- 
inary buildings  erected  upon  it,  it  is  now  thought  expedient  to  inform 
those  who  wish  to  take  part  in  the  associative  enterprise  for  which  the 
purchase  was  made,  that  the  subscribers,  as  its  projectors,  will  be  pre- 
pared to  receive  persons  the  ensuing  spring,  with  a  view  to  their  becom- 
ing associated  for  that  purpose. 

"  A  leading  feature  of  the  enterprise  is  to  establish  the  '  Combined 
Household '  of  Fourier — that  is,  a  single  large  residence  for  all  the  asso- 
ciates. Its  principal  aim  is  to  organize  labor,  the  source  of  all  wealth, 
first,  on  the  basis  of  remuneration  proportioned  to  production,  and,  second, 
in  such  manner  as  to  make  it  both  efficient  and  attractive.  Guarantees  of 
education  and  subsistence  to  all,  and  of  help  to  those  who  need  it,  are  in- 
dispensable conditions,  to  be  provided  as  soon  as  the  organization  shall 
be  sufficiently  advanced  to  render  them  practicable. 

"  A  spacious  edifice,  sufficient  for  the  accommodation  of  eighty  to  one 
hundred  persons,  will  be  erected  the  ensuing  season,  its  walls  and  princi- 
pal partitions,  which  are  to  be  of  stone,  being  already  contracted  for,  to 
be  completed  by  the  1st  of  October.  But  the  buildings  already  erected 
will  furnish  accommodations — less  eligible,  but  perfectly  comfortable  ex- 
cept in  severely  cold  weather — for  at  least  an  equal  number. 

"  It  is  not,  however,  expected  that  the  operations  of  the  ensuing  year 
will  be  any  thing  more  than  preparative  ;  they  will  be  limited  probably 
to  collecting  a  few  persons  to  form  a  nucleus  of  the  institution  to  be  grad- 
ually developed  in  the  future.  But,  from  the  first,  facilities  will  be  fur- 
nished for  industry  on  the  principle  of  remuneration  proportioned  to  produc- 
tion, by  means  of  which,  or  otherwise,  each  candidate  will  be  required  to 
provide  for  his  own  support,  and  for  that  of  such  other  persons  as  are 
admitted  at  his  request  as  members  of  his  family  or  other  dependents. 

"  The  means  of  support  at  present  available  for  those  who  come  to  re- 
side -on  the  domain  will  be,  as  they  may  be  stated  in  a  general  way,  oj>- 


Colonies — Not  Communistic.  377 

p&rtunities  to  engage,  on  liberal  terms,  in  as  many  varieties  as  possible  of 
productive  industry ;  but,  more  particularly,  first,  an  ample  area  of  fer- 
tile land  to  cultivate ;  and,  secondly,  facilities  for  such  mechanical  work 
as  can  be  executed  with  hand-tools,  especially  the  making  of  clothes, 
boots  and  shoes,  and  other  articles  of  universal  consumption,  not  exclud- 
ing, however,  any  article  whatever  for  which  a  market,  either  internal  or 
external,  can  be  found.  But.  as  far  as  income  depends  upon  earnings, 
the  most  reliable  resource  will  be  agricultural  and  horticultural  industry, 
as  most  of  the  mechanical  work  likely  to  be  required  for  some  time  should 
perhaps  be  reserved  for  weather  not  suitable  to  out-door  employments. 
Employment  for  wages  at  customary  rates  will  be  furnished  to  some  ex- 
tent to  those  who  desire  it  for  a  part  of  their  time,  but  can  not  be  relia- 
bly promised.  Steam-power  will  be  provided  as  soon  as  warranted  by  a 
sufficient  number  of  associates,  and  by  the  prospect  of  being  applied  to 
profitable  production. 

"  Having  provided  the  associates  and  candidates  with  these  facilities 
for  industry,  and  made  them  responsible  each  for  his  own  support,  and, 
at  first,  for  that  of  his  dependents,  the  projectors  propose  to  have  them 
distribute  themselves  into  organizations  for  industrial  operations,  and  se- 
lect or  invent  their  own  kinds  and  mode  of  cultivation  and  other  prac- 
tical processes,  under  regulations  prescribed  by  themselves.  They  will 
be  indulged  with  the  largest  liberty,  consistent  with  the  protection  of 
rights  and  the  preservation  of  order,  in  choosing  their  own  employments, 
and  their  own  industrial  and  social  companions ;  in  appointing,  concur- 
rently with  those  with  whom  they  are  immediately  associated,  their  own 
hours  of  labor,  recreation,  and  repose ;  and,  generally,  in  directing  their 
activity  in  such  manner  and  to  such  purposes  as  their  taste  or  interest 
may  induce  them  to  prefer.  We  hope  thus  to  demonstrate  that  interfer- 
ence with  individual  choice  is  necessary  only  to  restrain  people  from 
transgressing  their  own  proper  sphere  and  encroaching  upon  that  of  oth- 
ers, and  that  restraints,  even  for  that  purpose,  will  seldom  be  required, 
and  not  at  all  except  during  the  rudimentary  stage  of  industrial  organi- 
zation. 

"  No  efforts,  therefore,  will  be  made  to  select  persons  of  similar  views 
or  beliefs,  or  to  mould  them  afterward  to  any  uniform  pattern.  That 
unanimity  which  is  not  expected  in  regard  to  practical  operations,  is  much 
less  expected  in  regard  to  those  subjects  transcending  the  sphere  of  hu- 
man experience  about  which  opinions  are  now  so  irreconcilably,  conflict- 
ing. All  that  will  be  required  is  that  each  shall  accord  to  others  as  much 


3 78     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

freedom  of  thought  and  action  as  he  enjoys  himself,  and  shall  respect  the 
rights  and  interests  of  others  as  he  desires  his  own  to  be  respected  by 
them. 

"  The  apprehension  that  our  experiment  might  be  greatly  embarrassed 
by  admitting  the  totally  destitute  to  participate  in  it,  compels  us  to  say 
that  such  can  not  at  present  be  received.  The  means  applicable  to  our 
purpose,  considerable  as  they  are,  might1  become  inadequate  if  subjected 
to  the  burden  of  maintaining  objects  of  charity ;  while  but  few  could  be 
thus  relieved,  even  if  all  the  means  at  command  were  devoted  to  that 
single  object.  Our  system,  if  we  do  not  misapprehend  it,  will,  in  its  ma- 
turity, provide  abundantly  for  all. 

"But  though  we  insist  that  the  first  participators  in  our  enterprise 
shall  not  be  pecuniarily  destitute,  the  amount  insisted  upon  is  not  large. 
So  much,  however,  as  is  required  must  be  amply  secured  by  the  follow- 
ing cash  advances : 

*'  First :  rent  of  rooms  and  board  paid  two  months  in  advance  for  each 
person  admitted  to  reside  on  the  domain,  including  each  member  of  the 
applicant's  family ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  first  month,  payment  of  these 
items  for  another  month,  so  that  they  shall  again  be  paid  two  months  in 
advance,  and  so  from  month  to  month  indefinitely. 

"  Rent  of  rooms  will  be  reasonable,  and  board  will  be  finally  settled 
for  at  its  cost,  as  near  as  may  be ;  but  in  computing  it  for  advance  pay- 
ment, it  will  be  rated  rather  above  than  below  its  expected  cost,  to  pro- 
vide against  contingencies.  If  too  much  is  advanced,  the  excess,  when 
ascertained,  will  either  be  repaid  or  otherwise  duly  accounted  for. 

"  Facilities  for  cheap  boarding,  and  for  tables  graduated  to  suit  differ- 
ent tastes  and  circumstances,  will  be  limited  at  first,  and  until  associates 
become  numerous  enough  to  form  messes  and  board  themselves. 

"  Second :  each  person  so  admitted  will  be  required  to  deposit,  as  may 
be  directed,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars  for  himself,  and  an  equal 
sum  for  every  other  person  admitted  with  him  at  his  request,  on  which 
interest  will  be  allowed  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum.  This  de- 
posit is  expected  to  be  kept  unimpaired  until  the  projectors  think  it  may 
safely  be  dispensed  with,  but  will  be  repaid,  or  so  much  thereof  as  is  sub- 
ject to  no  charges  or  offsets,  whenever  the  person  on  whose  account  it 
was  made  withdraws  from  the  enterprise  and  ceases  to  reside  on  the  do- 
main ;  as  will  also  an$  unexpended  residue  of  the  amount  advanced  for 
rooms  and  board. 

"  This  deposit,  besides  furnishing  a  guarantee  against  the  destitution 


Colonies — Not  Communistic.  379 

of  the  person  making  it,  is  recommended  by  another  consideration  not 
less  important — it  secures  him,  in  case  he  wishes  to  retire  from  the  enter- 
prise, because  he  can  find  no  satisfactory  position  in  it,  or  for  any  other 
reason,  against  retiring  empty-handed,  or  remaining  longer  than  he  wishes 
for  want  of  means  to  go  elsewhere. 

"  In  addition  to  these  cash  advances,  each  person  admitted  as  an  as- 
sociate or  candidate  will  be  required  to  provide  furniture  for  his  room, 
and  all  other  articles  needed  for  his  personal  use,  including,  generally, 
the  hand-tools  with  which  he  works.  But  some  of  these  articles  may,  in 
certain  cases,  be  rented  or  sold  on  credit  to  persons  of  good  industrial 
capacity  who  have  complied  with  the  other  conditions. 

"  We  should  esteem,  as  especially  useful,  a  class  of  residents  who,  hav- 
ing an  income,  independent  of  their  earnings,  adequate  to  their  frugal 
support  at  least,  can  devote  themselves  as  freely  as  they  please  to  attract- 
ive occupations  which  are  not  remunerative,  it  being  such  occupations 
probably  that  will  furnish  the  first  good  examples  of  a  true  industrial  or- 
ganization. Next  to  be  preferred  are  those  having  an  independent  in- 
come which,  though  not  adequate  to  their  entire  support,  is  sufficient  to 
relieve  them  from  any  considerable  anxiety  concerning  it ;  for  they  can,  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent,  yield  to  the  impulses  of  attraction  with  compara- 
tive indifference  to  the  pecuniary  results  of  their  industry. 

"  It  is  hoped  and  expected  that  the  style  of  living,  at  least  in  the  early 
stages  of  the  experiment,  will  be  frugal  and  inexpensive.  Neatness  and 
good  taste,  and  even  modest  elegance,  will  be  approved  and  encouraged; 
but  the  projectors  disapprove  of  superfluous  personal  decorations,  and  of 
all  expense  incurred  for  mere  show  without  utility,  and  in  this  sentiment 
they  hope  to  be  sustained  by  the  associates. 

"  As  a  general  rule,  applicants  who  comply  with  the  pecuniary  con- 
ditions will  be  admitted  on  trial  as  candidates,  to  the  extent  of  our  ac- 
commodations, without  formal  inquisition  of  other  particulars" ;  but  each 
applicant  should  state  his  age  and  occupation,  and  the  ages  and  industri- 
al capacities,  of  others,  if  any,  whom  he  desires  to  have  admitted  with 
him,  and  whether  any  of  them  are  permanently  infirm.  References  are 
also  requested,  and  photographs  if  possible. 

"  The  cardinal  object  of  our  enterprise  being,  as  has  been  said,  to  or- 
ganize labor  on  the  basis  of  rewarding  it  according  to  the  value  of  its 
product,  and  in  such  manner  as  to  divest  it  of  the  repugnance  inseparable 
from  it  as  now  prosecuted,  the  policy  to  which  recourse  will  first  be  had 
to  effect  this  object  will  be  to  throw  upon  the  associates  the  chief  respon- 


380     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

sibility  of  selecting  functions  and  devising  processes,  as  well  as  of  mar- 
shaling themselves  into  efficient  industrial  organizations.  Freedom  to 
select  their  preferred  occupations  and  modes  of  proceeding  is  proposed, 
with  the  expectation  that  a  diversity  of  preferences  will  be  developed  in 
both,  the  respective  partisans  of  which  will  vie  with  each  other  to  dem- 
onstrate the  superior  excellence  of  their  chosen  specialties.  Among  the 
numerous  merits  which  recommend  this  policy,  not  the  least  important 
is  that  it  will,  as  is  believed,  give  full  play  to  all  varieties  of  taste  and  ca- 
pacity, and  secure  a  more  perfect  correspondence  of  functions  with  apti- 
tudes than  exists  in  the  present  system  of  labor.  But  we  are  not  so  com- 
mitted to  any  policy  as  to  persist  in  it,  if,  after  being  fairly  tested,  it  fails 
of  its  purpose.  In  that  event  new  expedients  will  be  resorted  to,  and 
others  again,  if  necessary,  for  we  should  not  abandon  our  enterprise, 
though  our  first  efforts  should  prove  unsuccessful.  The  failure  of  any 
particular  policy,  therefore,  does  not  involve  a  final  failure,  of  which  in- 
deed the  danger,  if  any,  is  remote,  inasmuch  as  care  will  be  taken  not  to 
exhaust  the  means  applicable  to  our  main  purpose  in  a  first  trial,  or  in  a 
second,  or  even  any  number  of  trials.  But  we  have  great  confidence  that 
not  many  trials  will  be  necessary  to  construct  a  system  of  industry  and 
of  social  life  far  in  advance  of  any  form  of  either  now  prevailing  in  the 
world. 

"  The  lowest  degree  of  success — we  will  not  say  with  which  we  shall  be 
satisfied,  but  to  which  we  can  be  reconciled — is  that  the  experiment  shall 
be  SELF-SUSTAINING.  By  this  we  mean  that  the  associates,  aided  by  the 
facilities  furnished  them,  shall  produce  enough  not  only  to  supply  their 
own  consumption,  including  education  for  children  and  subsistence  for 
all,  and  to  repair  the  waste,  wear,  and  decay  of  tools,  machines,  and  other 
property  used,  but  enough  also  to  reasonably  compensate  those  who  fur- 
nish the  capital  for  the  use  of  it.  Less  production  than  this  implies  a 
waning  experiment,  which  must,  sooner  or  later,  terminate  adversely.  But 
even  though  this  low  degree  of  success  should  be  delayed,  the  domain  is 
indestructible,  and  being  dedicated  forever  to  associative  purposes,  must 
remain  unimpaired  for  repeated  trials. 

"  An  ample  sufficiency  of  land  will  be  conveyed  to  trustees  in  such 
manner  as  to  secure  the  perpetual  use  of  it  to  the  associates  and  their  suc- 
cessors. The  land  to  be  thus  appropriated  has  on  it  a  large  peach  or- 
chard now  in  full  bearing,  which  yielded  last  season  a  large  crop  of  ex- 
cellent peaches ;  400  selected  apple-trees,  which  have  four  years'  thrifty 
growth  from  the  nursery,  and  a  considerable  number  of  other  fruit-trees ; 


Colonies — Not  Communistic.  381 

and  a  vineyard  of  about  1200  young  grape-vines.  A  library  of  1200  vol- 
umes in  English,  besides  a  large  number  in  French  and  other  languages, 
is  now  here,  intended  for  the  use  of  future  associates  and  residents. 

"  No  fund  is  set  apart  for  the  gratuitous  entertainment  of  visitors.  Those 
not  guests  of  some  one  here  who  will  be  chargeable  for  them,  will  be  ex- 
pected to  pay  a  reasonable  price  for  such  plain  and  cheap  accommoda- 
tions as  can  be  afforded  them. 

"  For  a  more  extended  explanation  of  the  principles  and  aim  of  our  en- 
terprise, and  of  some  of  the  details  of  the  mode  of  proceeding,  persons  in- 
terested are  referred  to  a  treatise  on  '  Co-operation  and  Attractive  Indus- 
try,' published  under  the  auspices  of  the  departed  and  lamented  Hor- 
ace Greeley,  for  which  send  fifty  cents  to  the  Tribune,  New  York,  or  to 
either  of  the  subscribers. 

"  [Note.  —  It  should  be  understood  that  the  foregoing  exposition  of 
principles  and  policy,  though  the  best  that  our  present  knowledge  ena- 
bles us  to  make,  is  provisional  only,  and  liable  to  be  modified  from  time 
to  time  as  experience  makes  us  wiser.]  E.  V.  BOISSIERE. 

"  Williamsburg  P.  O.,  Franklin  Co.,  Kansas." 

On  the  back  of  the  circular  is  the  following  description  of 
Silkville's  position  and  other  particulars  : 

"  Silkville,  at  which  '  The  Prairie  Home '  is  located,  is  near  the  south- 
west corner  of  Franklin  County,  Kansas,  three  miles  south  of  Williams- 
burg,  at  present  the  nearest  post-office ;  about  twelve  miles  nearly  west 
of  Princeton,  on  the  L.  L.  and  G.  Railroad,  the  nearest  railroad  station ; 
and  about  twenty  miles  southwest  of  Ottawa,  the  county  seat.  An  open 
wagon,  which  carries  passengers  and  the  mail  between  Williamsburg  and 
Princeton,  connects  with  the  cars  at  the  latter  place  every  Monday,  Wed- 
nesday, and  Friday,  at  about  2  o'clock  P.  M.,  which  (by  special  arrange- 
ment) will  carry  passengers  with  ordinary  baggage  between  Princeton 
and  Silkville  for  sixty-five  cents  each.  Fare  from  Ottawa  to  Princeton, 
nine  miles,  fifty  cents.  Persons  coming  here  frequently  hire  a  private 
conveyance  from  Ottawa. 

"  Through  tickets  to  Kansas  City  and  Lawrence  (and  perhaps  to  Otta- 
wa) can  be  purchased  at  the  principal  railroad  stations.  Fare  from  Kan- 
sas City  to  Ottawa,  fifty-three  miles,  $2  90 ;  from  Lawrence  to  Ottawa, 
twenty-seven  miles,  $1  60." 

Under  date  of  March  30, 1874,  Mr.  Boissiere  writes  me: 


382     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

"  The  unitary  building  is  complete  so  far  as  masonry  and  carpenter 
work  goes,  but  the  plastering  and  painting  will  require  two  months  to 
complete.  Our  neighborhood  has  not  settled  as  fast  as  I  expected,  and 
will  not  afford  a  market  for  small  industries.  I  would  not  invite  associ- 
ates to  come  on  until  I  establish  more  firmly  the  silk  business  and  some 
other  industries.  The  country  has  not  yet  learned  what  crops  will  pay 
best.  Farmers  are  now  trying  the  castor-bean  and  flax  for  seed,  with 
some  promise  of  success.  I  had  information  about  an  oil-mill,  but  find 
it  gives  occupation  to'  only  a  very  few  operators.  I  think  now  of  a  fac- 
tory for  working  the  flax-tow  into  twine  and  rope,  bagging,  or  mats. 

"  I  have  plenty  of  patience,  having  lived  a  farmer's  life  ;  and  I  like  bet- 
ter to  go  surely  than  too  fast.  We  have  plenty  of  good  coal  around  us, 
selling  at  fourteen  cents  per  bushel  of  eighty  pounds.  We  had  the  pros- 
pect of  a  railroad  crossing  our  grounds  from  Ottawa  to  Burlington,  but 
the  hard  times  prevent  it.  Yours,  E.  V.  BOISSIERE." 

It  is  difficult  to  foretell  what  will  be  the  outcome  of  Mr. 
Boissiere's  effort.  The  offer  he  makes  to  "  associates  "  is  not 
very  promising.  Land  and  employment  outside  of  the  great 
cities  are  both  so  plentiful  in  this  country  that  men  who  have 
capital  enough  to  make  the  deposit  required  by  Mr.  Boissiere 
are  more  likely  to  settle  upon  public  land  under  the  homestead 
act,  and  carve  out  their  own  future. 


A  COMPARATIVE  VIEW 


OP  THE 


CUSTOMS  AND  PRACTICES 


OF  THE 


AMERICAN  COMMUNES. 


COMPARATIVE  VIEW. 


I. — STATISTICAL. 

THOUGH  brief  accounts  are  given  in  the  preceding  pages  of 
several  recently  established  communistic  societies,  it  is  evident 
that  only  those  which  have  been  in  practical  operation  during 
a  term  of  years  are  useful  for  purposes  of  comparison,  and 
to  show  the  actually  accomplished  results  of  communistic  ef- 
fort in  the  United  States,  as  well  as  the  means  by  which  these 
results  have  been  achieved. 

The  societies  which  may  thus  be  properly  used  as  illustra- 
tions of  successful  communism  in  this  country  are  the  SHAKERS, 
established  in  the  Eastern  States  in  1794,  and  in  the  West  about 
1808 ;  the  RAPPISTS,  established  in  1805 ;  the  BAUMELEBS,  or 
ZOAEITES,  established  in  1817;  the  EBEN-EZEKS,  or  AM  ANA 
Communists,  established  in  1844 ;  the  BETHEL  Commune,  es- 
tablished in  1844 ;  the  ONEIDA  PERFECTIONISTS,  established  in 
1848 ;  the  ICAKIANS,  who  date  from  1849 ;  and  the  AURORA 
Commune,  from  1852. 

Though  in  name  there  are  thus  but  eight  societies,  these  con- 
sist in  fact  of  not  less  than  seventy-two  communes :  the  Shakers 
having  fifty-eight  of  these ;  the  Amana  Society  seven ;  and  the 
Perfectionists  two.  The  remaining  societies  consist  of  but  a 
single  commune  for  each. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  oldest  of  these  communes  have  exist- 
ed for  eighty  years ;  the  youngest  cited  here  for  review  has 
been  founded  twenty-two  years.  Of  all,  only  two  societies  re- 
main under  the  guidance  of  their  founders ;  though  it  may  be 

DD 


386     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

said  that  the  Amana  Communes  have  still  the  advantage  of  the 
presence  among  them  of  some  of  the  original  leading  mem- 
bers. The  common  assertion  that  a  commune  must  break  up  on 
the  death  of  its  founder  would  thus  appear  to  be  erroneous. 

These  seventy-two  communes  make  but  little  noise  in  the 
world ;  they  live  quiet  and  peaceful  lives,  and  do  not  like  to 
admit  strangers  to  their  privacy.  They  numbered  in  1874 
about  five  thousand  persons,  including  children,  and  were  then 
scattered  through  thirteen  states,  in  which  they  own  over  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres  of  land — probably  nearer 
one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand,  for  the  more  prosperous  fre- 
quently own  farms  at  a  distance,  and  the  exact  amount  of  their 
holdings  is  not  easily  ascertained.  As  they  have  sometimes 
been  accused  of  being  land  monopolists,  it  is  curious  to  see 
that  even  at  the  highest  amount  I  have  given  they  would  own 
only  about  thirty-six  acres  per  head,  which  is,  for  this  country, 
a  comparatively  small  holding  of  land. 

It  is  probably  a  low  estimate  of  the  wealth  of  the  seventy- 
two  communes  to  place  it  at  twelve  millions  of  dollars.  This 
wealth  is  not  equally  divided,  some  of  the  older  societies  hold- 
ing the  larger  share.  But  if  it  were,  the  members  would  be 
worth  over  two  thousand  dollars  per  head,  counting  men,  wom- 
en, and  children.  It  is  not  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  almost 
the  whole  of  this  wealth  has  been  created  by  the  patient  in- 
dustry and  strict  economy  and  honesty  of  its  owners,  without 
a  positive  or  eager  desire  on  their  part  to  accumulate  riches, 
and  without  painful  toil. 

Moreover — and  this  is  another  important  consideration — I 
am  satisfied  that  during  its  accumulation  the  Communists  en- 
joyed a  greater  amount  of  comfort,  and  vastly  greater  security 
against  want  and  demoralization,  than  were  attained  by  their 
neighbors  or  the  surrounding  population,  with  better  schools 
and  opportunities  of  training  for  their  children,  and  far  less 
exposure  for  the  women,  and  the  aged  and  infirm. 


Comparative  View.  387 

In  origin  the  Icarians  are  French;  the  Shakers  and  Per- 
fectionists Americans ;  the  others  are  Germans ;  and  these  out- 
number all  the  American  communists.  In  fact,  the  Germans 
make  better  communists  than  any  other  people  —  unless  the 
Chinese  should  some  day  turn  their  attention  to  communistic 
attempts.  What  I  have  seen  of  these  people  in  California 
and  the  Sandwich  Islands  leads  me  to  believe  that  they  are 
well  calculated  for  communistic  experiments. 

All  the  communes  under  consideration  have  as  their  bond 
of  union  some  form  of  religious  belief.  It  is  asserted  by  some 
writers  who  theorize  about  communism  that  a  commune  can 
not  exist  long  without  some  fanatical  religious  thought  as  its 
cementing  force ;  while  others  assert  with  equal  positiveness 
that  it  is  possible  to  maintain  a  commune  in  which  the  mem- 
bers shall  have  diverse  and  diverging  beliefs  in  religious  mat- 
ters. It  seems  to  me  that  both  these  theories  are  wrong ;  but 
that  it  is  true  that  a  commune  to  exist  harmoniously,  must  be 
composed  of  persons  who  are  of  one  mind  upon  some  question 
which  to  them  shall  appear  so  important  as  to  take  the  place 
of  a  religion,  if  it  is  not  essentially  religious ;  though  it  need 
not  be  fanatically  held. 

Thus  the  Icarians  reject  Christianity ;  but  they  have  adopt- 
ed the  communistic  idea  as  their  religion.  This  any  one  will 
see  who  speaks  with  them.  But  devotion  to  this  idea  has  sup- 
ported them  under  the  most  deplorable  poverty  and  long-con- 
tinued hardships  for  twenty  years. 

Again,  the  Bethel  and  Aurora  Communes,  whose  members 
make  singularly  little  of  outward  religious  observances,  are 
held  together  by  their  belief  that  the  essence  of  all  religion, 
and  of  Christianity,  is  unselfishness,  and  that  this  requires  com- 
munity of  goods. 

I  do  not  think  that  any  of  these  people  can  be  justly  called 
fanatics. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Shakers,  Eappists,  Baumelers,  Eben- 


388     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Ezers,  and  Perfectionists  have  each  a  very  positive  and  deep- 
ly rooted  religious  faith ;  but  none  of  them  can  properly  be 
called  fanatics,  except  by  a  person  who  holds  every  body  to  be 
a  fanatic  who  believes  differently  from  himself.  For  none  of 
these  people  believe  that  they  are  alone  good  or  alone  right; 
all  admit  freely  that  there  is  room  in  the  world  for  various 
and  varying  religious  beliefs;  and  that  neither  wisdom  nor 
righteousness  ends  with  them. 

It  is  also  commonly  said  that  all  the  communistic  societies 
in  this  country  oppose  the  family-life,  and  that  in  general  they 
advocate  some  abnormal  relation  of  the  sexes,  which  they 
make  a  fundamental  part  of  their  communistic  plan.  This, 
too,  is  an  error.  Of  all  the  communes  I  am  now  considering, 
only  the  Perfectionists  of  Oneida  and  Wallingford  have  es- 
tablished what  can  be  fairly  called  unnatural  sexual  relations. 

At  Icaria,  Amana,  Aurora,  Bethel,  and  Zoar  the  family  re- 
lation is  held  in  honor,  and  each  family  has  its  own  separate 
household.  The  Icarians  even  forbid  celibacy.  None  of  these 
five  societies  maintain  what  is  called  a  "unitary  household;" 
and  in  only  two,  Icaria  and  Amana,  do  the  people  eat  in  com- 
mon dining-halls. 

The  Shakers  and  Kappists  are  celibates;  and  it  is  often 
said  by  the  Shakers  that  communism  can  not  be  successful 
except  where  celibacy  is  a  part  of  the  system.  It  is  not  un- 
natural that  they  should  think  so ;  but  the  success  of  those 
societies  which  maintain  the  family  relation  would  seem  to 
prove  the  Shakers  mistaken.  And  it  is  useful  to  remember 
that  even  the  Kappists  were  successful  before  they  determined, 
under  deep  religious  influences,  to  give  up  marriage,  and  adopt 
celibacy.  Moreover,  the  Kappists  have  never  used  the  "  uni- 
tary home"  or  the  common  dining-hall ;  they  have  always  lived 
in  small  "  families,"  composed  of  men,  women,  and  children. 

It  seems  to  me  a  fair  deduction  from  the  facts,  that  neither 
religious  fanaticism  nor  an  unnatural  sexual  relation  (unless 


Comparative  View.  389 

voluntary  celibacy  is  so  called)  is  necessary  to  the  successful 
prosecution  of  a  communistic  experiment.  What  is  required 
I  shall  try  to  set  forth  in  another  chapter. 

The  Eben-Ezers  and  the  Perfectionists  are  the  only  com- 
munes which  are  at  this  time  increasing  in  numbers.  At  Ica- 
ria,  Bethel,  Aurora,  and  Zoar,  they  hold  their  own ;  but  they, 
too,  have  lost  strength  during  the  last  twenty  years.  The 
Shakers  and  Rappists,  the  only  celibate  communists,  are  de- 
creasing, and  have  lost  during  a  number  of  years ;  and  this  in 
spite  of  their  benevolent  custom  of  adopting  and  training 
orphan  children,  to  whom  they  devote  money  and  care  with 
surprising  and  creditable  liberality.  The  Eben-Ezers  get  the 
greater  part  of  their  accessions  from  among  the  brethren  of 
their  faith  in  Germany ;  and  they  live  in  Iowa  in  such  rigor- 
ous seclusion,  and  so  entirely  conceal  themselves  and  their 
faith  and  plan  from  the  general  public,  that  it  is  evident  they 
do  not  wish  to  recruit  their  membership  from  the  surrounding 
population.  The  Perfectionists  publish  a  weekly  journal,  send 
this  and  their  pamphlets  to  all  who  wish  them,  and  have  al- 
ways used  the  press  freely.  Their  peculiar  doctrines  are  widely 
known,  and  they  receive  constantly  applications  from  persons 
desirous  to  join  their  communes.  I  believe  the  greater  num- 
ber of  these  applicants  are  men ;  and  I  do  not  doubt  that  the 
peculiar  sexual  relations  existing  at  Oneida  and  Wallingford 
are  an  element  of  attraction  to  a  considerable  proportion  of 
the  persons  who  apply  for  membership,  and  who  are  almost 
without  exception  rejected;  for  it  is  right  that  I  should  here 
prevent  a  misconception  by  saying  that  the  Perfectionists  are 
sincerely  and  almost  fanatically  attached  to  their  peculiar  faith, 
and  accept  new  members  only  with  great  care  and  many  pre- 
cautions. 

The  Perfectionists  are  essentially  manufacturers,  using  agri- 
culture only  as  a  subsidiary  branch  of  business.  All  the  other 
societies  have  agriculture  as  their  industrial  base,  and  many  of 


390     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

them  manufacture  but  little,  though  all  have  some  branch  of 
manufacture.  Also,  it  is  the  aim  of  all  to  produce  and  make, 
as  far  as  possible,  every  thing  they  consume.  To  limit  the 
expenditures  and  increase  the  income  is  the  evident  road  to 
wealth,  as  they  have  all  discovered. 

Much  ingenuity  has  been  exercised  by  all  these  communists 
in  establishing  profitable  branches  of  manufacture;  and  they 
have  had  the  good  sense  and  courage  in  whatever  they  undertook 
to  make  only  a  good  article,  and  secure  trade  by  rigid  honesty. 
Thus  the  Shaker  garden  seeds  have  for  nearly  three  quarters 
of  a  century  been  accepted  as  the  best  all  over  the  United 
States  ;  the  Oneida  Perfectionists  established  the  reputation  of 
their  silk-twist  in  the  market  by  giving  accurate  weight  and 
sound  material ;  the  woolen  stuffs  of  Amana  command  a  con- 
stant market,  because  they  are  well  and  honestly  made ;  and  in 
general  I  have  found  that  the  communists  have  a  reputation 
for  honesty  and  fair  dealing  among  their  neighbors,  and  where- 
ever  their  products  are  bought  and  sold,  which  must  be  very 
valuable  to  them. 

Saw  and  grist  mills,  machine  shops  for  the  manufacture  and 
repair  of  agricultural  implements,  and  woolen  factories,  are 
the  principal  large  manufacturing  enterprises  in  which  they 
are  engaged ;  to  these  must  be  added  the  preserving  of  fruits, 
broom  and  basket  making,  the  preparation  of  medicinal  ex- 
tracts, and  the  gathering  and  drying  of  herbs,  garden  seeds, 
and  sweet  corn,  chair-making,  and  a  few  other  small  indus- 
tries. One  Shaker  community  manufactures  washing-ma- 
chines and  mangles  on  a  large  scale,  and  another  makes  staves 
for  molasses  hogsheads.  Indeed,  the  Shakers  have  shown 
more  skill  in  contriving  new  trades  than  any  of  the  other 
societies,  and  have  among  their  members  a  good  deal  of  me- 
chanical ingenuity. 

All  the  communes  maintain  shops  for  making  their  own 
clothing,  shoes,  and  often  hats;  as  well  as  for  carpentry, 


Comparative  View.  391 

blacksmithing,  wagon -making,  painting,  coopering,  etc.,  and 
have  the  reputation  among  their  neighbors  of  keeping  excel- 
lent breeds  of  cattle.  The  small  shops  and  the  improved  cattle 
are  important  advantages  to  their  country  neighbors ;  and  a 
farmer  who  lives  within  half  a  dozen  miles  of  a  commune  is 
fortunate  in  many  ways,  for  he  gains  a  market  for  some  of  his 
produce,  and  he  has  the  advantage  of  all  their  mechanical 
skill.  I  did  not  specially  investigate  the  question,  but  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  land  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  commu- 
nistic society  is  always  more  valuable  for  these  reasons ;  and  I 
know  of  some  instances  in  which  the  existence  of  a  commune 
has  added  very  considerably  to  the  price  of  real  estate  near 
its  boundaries. 

Almost  without  exception  the  communists  are  careful  and 
thorough  farmers.  Their  barns  and  other  farm-buildings  are 
usually  models  for  convenience,  labor-saving  contrivances,  and 
arrangements  for  the  comfort  of  animals.  Their  tillage  is 
clean  and  deep ;  and  in  their  orchards  one  always  finds  the 
best  varieties  of  fruits.  In  their  houses  they  enjoy  all  the 
comforts  to  which  they  are  accustomed  or  which  they  desire, 
and  this  to  a  greater  degree  than  their  neighbors  on  the  same 
plane  of  life ;  and,  especially,  they  are  always  clean.  The 
women  of  a  commune  have,  without  exception,  I  think,  far 
less  burdensome  lives  than  women  of  the  same  class  elsewhere. 
This  comes  partly  because  the  men  are  more  regular  in 
their  hours  and  habits,  and  waste  no  time  in  dram-shops  or 
other  and  less  harmful  places  of  dissipation ;  partly,  too,  be- 
cause all  the  industries  of  a  commune  'are  systematized,  and 
what  Yankees  call  "  chores,"  the  small  duties  of  the  household, 
such  as  preparing  and  storing  firewood,  providing  water,  etc., 
which  on  our  farms  are  often  neglected  by  the  men,  and  cause 
the  women  much  unnecessary  hardship  and  toil,  are  in  a  com- 
mune brought  into  the  general  plan  of  work,  and  thoroughly 
attended  to 


392     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Of  course,  the  permanence  of  a  commune  adds  much  to  the 
comfort  of  the  women,  for  it  encourages  the  men  in  pro- 
viding many  small  conveniences  which  the  migratory  farmer's 
wife  sighs  for  in  vain.  A  commune  is  a  fixture ;  its  people 
build  and  arrange  for  all  time ;  and  if  they  have  an  ideal  of 
comfort  they  work  up  to  it. 


II. — COMMUNAL  POLITICS  AND  POLITICAL  ECONOMY. 

Nothing  surprised  me  more,  in  my  investigations  of  the 
communistic  societies,  than  to  discover — 

1st.  The  amount  and  variety  of  business  and  mechanical 
skill  which  is  found  in  every  commune,  no  matter  what  is  the 
character  or  intelligence  of  its  members ;  and, 

2d.  The  ease  and  certainty  with  which  the  brains  come  to 
the  top.  Of  course  this  last  is  a  transcendent  merit  in  any 
system  of  government. 

The  fundamental  principle  of  communal  life  is  the  subor- 
dination of  the  individual's  will  to  the  general  interest  or  the 
general  will :  practically,  this  takes  the  shape  of  unquestioning 
obedience  by  the  members  toward  the  leaders,  elders,  or  chiefs 
of  their  society. 

But  as  the  leaders  take  no  important  step  without  the  unan- 
imous consent  of  the  membership ;  and  as  it  is  a  part  of  the 
communal  policy  to  set  each  member  to  that  work  which  he 
can  do  best,  and  so  far  as  possible  to  please  all ;  and  as  the 
communist  takes  life  easily,  and  does  not  toil  as  severely  as  the 
individualist  —  so,  given  a  general  assent  to  the  principle  of 
obedience,  and  practically  little  hardship  occurs. 

The  political  system  of  the  Icarians  appears  to  me  the  worst, 
or  most  faulty,  and  that  of  the  Shakers,  Rappists,  and  Ainana 
Communists  the  best  and  most  successful,  among  all  the  soci- 
eties. 


Comparative  View.  393 

The  Icarian  system  is  as  nearly  as  possible  a  pure  democracy. 
The  president,  elected  for  a  year,  is  simply  an  executive  officer 
to  do  the  will  of  the  majority,  which  is  expressed  or  ascertained 
every  Saturday  night,  and  is  his  rule  of  conduct  for  the  fol- 
lowing week.  "  The  president  could  not  sell  a  bushel  of  corn 
without  instructions  from  the  meeting  of  the  people,"  said  an 
Icarian  to  me — and  thereby  seemed  to  me  to  condemn  the 
system  of  which  he  was  evidently  proud. 

At  Amana,  and  among  the  Shaker  communes,  the  "  leading 
characters,"  as  the  Shakers  quaintly  call  them,  are  selected  by 
the  highest  spiritual  authority,  are  seldom  changed,  and  have 
almost,  but  not  quite,  unlimited  power  and  authority.  The 
limitations  are  that  they  shall  so  manage  as  to  preserve  har- 
mony, and  that  they  shall  act  within  the  general  rules  of  the 
societies — shall  not  contract  debts,  for  instance,  or  enter  upon 
speculative  or  hazardous  enterprises. 

The  democracy  which  exists  at  Oneida  and  Wallingford  is 
held  in  check  by  the  overshadowing  conservative  influence  of 
their  leader,  Koyes ;  it  remains  to  be  seen  how  it  will  work  aft- 
er his  death.  But  it  differs  from  the  Icarian  system  in  this 
important  respect,  that  it  does  give  large  powers  to  leaders  and 
executive  officers.  Moreover,  the  members  of  these  two  Per- 
fectionist communes  are  almost  all  overseers  of  hired  laborers ; 
and  Oneida  is  in  reality  more  a  large  and  prosperous  manufact- 
uring corporation,  with  a  great  number  of  partners  all  active- 
ly engaged  in  the  work,  than  a  commune  in  the  common  sense 
of  the  word. 

At  Economy  the  chiefs  have  always  been  appointed  by  the 
spiritual  head,  and  for  life ;  and  the  people,  as  among  the 
Shakers  and  Eben-Ezers,  trouble  themselves  but  little  about  the 
management.  The  same  is  true  of  Zoar  and  Bethel,  practical- 
lyj  though  the  Batimelers  elect  trustees.  Aurora  is  still  under 
the  rule  of  its  founder. 

Aside  from  the  religious  bond,  and  I  believe  of  equal  strength 


394     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

with  that  in  the  minds  of  most  communists,  is  the  fact  that  in 
a  commune  there  is  absolute  equality.  The  leader  is  only  the 
chief  servant ;  his  food  and  lodgings  are  no  better  than  those 
of  the  members.  At  Economy,  the  people,  to  be  sure,  built  a 
larger  house  for  Eapp,  but  this  was  when  he  had  become  old, 
and  when  he  had  to  entertain  strangers  —  visitors.  But  even 
there  the  garden  which  adjoins  the  house  is  frequented  by  the 
whole  society — is,  in  fact,  its  pleasure-ground ;  and  the  present 
leaders  live  in  the  old  house  as  simply  and  plainly  as  the  hum- 
blest members  in  theirs.  At  Zoar,  Baumeler  occupied  a  com- 
modious dwelling,  but  it  was  used  also  as  a  storehouse.  At 
Aurora,  Dr.  Keil's  house  accommodates  a  dozen  or  twenty  of 
the  older  unmarried  people,  who  live  in  common  with  him. 
At  Amana,  the  houses  of  the  leaders  are  so  inconspicuous 
and  plain  that  they  are  not  distinguishable  from  the  rest. 
A  Shaker  elder  sits  at  the  head  of  the  table  of  his  family 
or  commune,  and  even  the  highest  elder  or  bishop  of  the  so- 
ciety has  not  a  room  to  himself,  and  is  expected  to  work  at 
some  manual  occupation  when  not  employed  in  spiritual  du- 
ties. 

In  a  commune  no  member  is  a  servant ;  if  any  servants  are 
kept,  they  are  hired  from  among  the  world's  people.  When 
the  Kentucky  Shakers  organized,  they  not  only  liberated  their 
slaves,  but  such  of  them  as  became  Shakers  were  established 
in  an  independent  commune  or  family  by  their  former  mas- 
ters. They  "  ceased  to  be  servants,  and  became  brethren  in 
the  Lord." 

Any  one  who  has  felt  the  oppressive  burden  of  even  the 
highest  and  best-paid  kinds  of  service  will  see  that  independ- 
ence and  equality  are  great  boons,  for  which  many  a  man 
willingly  sacrifices  much  else. 

Moreover,  the  security  against  want  and  misfortune,  the 
sure  provision  for  old  age  and  inability,  which  the  communal 
system  offers — is  no  doubt  an  inducement  with  a  great  many 


Comparative  View.  395 

to  whom  the  struggle  for  existence  appears  difficult  and  beset 
by  terrible  chances. 

I  do  not  mean  here  to  undervalue  the  higher  motives  which 
lead  men  and  women  into  religious  communities,  and  which 
control  the  leaders,  and  no  doubt  a  considerable  part  of  the 
membership  in  such  communes ;  but  not  all.  For  even  among 
the  most  spiritual  societies  there  are,  and  must  be,  members 
controlled  by  lower  motives,  and  looking  mainly  to  sufficient 
bread  and  butter,  a  regular  and  healthful  life,  easy  tasks,  and 
equality  of  condition. 

Finally,  the  communal  life  secures  order  and  system — cer- 
tainly at  the  expense  of  variety  and  amusement ;  but  a  man  or 
woman  bom  with  what  the  Shakers  would  call  a  gift  of  order, 
finds,  I  imagine,  a  singular  charm  in  the  precision,  method, 
regularity,  and  perfect  system  of  a  communal  village.  An 
eternal  Sabbath  seems  to  reign  in  a  Shaker  settlement,  or  at 
Economy,  or  Amana.  There  is  no  hurly-burly.  This  sys- 
tematic arrangement  of  life,  combined  with  the  cleanliness 
which  is  a  conspicuous  feature  in  every  commune  which  I 
have  visited,  gives  a  decency  and  dignity  to  humble  life  which 
in  general  society  is  too  often  without. 

"  How  do  you  manage  with  the  lazy  people  ?"  I  asked  in 
many  places ;  but  there  are  no  idlers  in  a  commune.  I  con- 
clude that  men  are  not  naturally  idle.  Even  the  "  winter 
Shakers" — the  shiftless  fellows  who,  as  cold  weather  approach- 
es, take  refuge  in  Shaker  and  other  communes,  professing  a  de- 
sire to  become  members ;  who  come  at  the  beginning  of  win- 
ter, as  a  Shaker  elder  said  to  me,  "  with  empty  stomachs  and 
empty  trunks,  and  go  off  with  both  full  as  soon  as  the  roses 
begin  to  bloom" — even  these  poor  creatures  succumb  to  the 
systematic  and  orderly  rules  of  the  place,  and  do  their  share  of 
work  without  shirking,  until  the  mild  spring  siru  tempts  them 
to  a  freer  life. 


396     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

The  character  of  the  leaders  in  a  commune  is  of  the  great- 
est importance.  It  affects,  in  the  most  obvious  manner,  the 
development  of  the  society  over  which  they  rule.  The  "  lead- 
ing character"  is  sure  to  be  a  man  of  force  and  ability,  and 
he  forms  the  habits,  not  only  of  daily  life,  but  even  of 
thought,  of  those  whom  he  governs — just  as  the  father  forms 
the  character  of  his  children  in  a  family,  or  would  if  he  did 
not  give  his  whole  life  to  "  business." 

But  origin,  nationality,  and  previous  social  condition  are,  of 
course,  still  greater  powers.  Thus  the  German  communists 
in  the  United  States,  who  came  for  the  most  part  from  the 
peasant  class  in  their  country,  retain  their  peculiar  habits  of 
life,  which  are  often  singular,  and  sometimes  repulsive  to  an 
American.  They  enjoy  doubtless  more  abundant  food  than  in 
their  old  homes ;  but  it  is  of  the  same  kind,  and  served  in  the 
same  homely  style  to  which  they  were  used.  Their  dwellings 
may  be  more  substantial ;  but  they  see  nothing  disagreeable  in 
two  or  three  families  occupying  the  same  house.  At  Icaria 
I  saw  French  sabots,  or  wooden  shoes,  standing  at  the  doors 
of  the  houses;  and  at  dinner  the  water  was  poured  from  a 
a  vessel  of  tin — not,  I  imagine,  because  they  were  too  poor  to 
afford  a  pitcher,  but  because  this  was  the  custom  at  home. 

So,  too,  among  the  American  societies  there  are  great  differ- 
ences. To  the  outer  eye  one  Shaker  is  much  like  another; 
but  the  New  Hampshire  and  Kentucky  Shakers  are  as  differ- 
ent from  each  other  as  the  general  population  of  one  state  is 
from  that  of  the  other,  both  in  intellectual  character  and 
habits  of  life ;  and  the  New  York  Shaker  differs  again  from 
both.  Climate,  by  the  habits  it  compels,  makes  trivial  but  still 
conspicuous  differences;  it  is  not  possible  that  the  Kentucky 
Shaker,  who  hears  the  mocking-bird  sing  in  his  pines  on  every 
sunny  day  the  winter  through,  and  in  whose  woods  the  blue-jay 
is  a  constant  resident,  should  be  the  same  being  as  his  brother 
in  Maine  or  New  Hampshire,  who  sees  the  mercury  fall  to 


Comparative  View.  397 

twenty  degrees  below  zero,  and  stores  his  winter's  firewood  in 
a  house  as  big  as  an  ordinary  factory  or  as  his  own  meeting- 
house. 

I  was  much  struck  with  the  simplicity  of  the  book-keeping 
in  most  of  the  communities,  which  often  made  it  difficult  for 
me  to  procure  such  simple  statistics  as  I  have  given  in  previous 
pages.  Sometimes,  as  at  Zoar,  Aurora,  and  Bethel,  it  was  with 
great  trouble  that  I  could  get  even  approximate  figures ;  and 
this  not  entirely  because  they  were  unwilling  to  give  the  in- 
formation, but  because  it  was  nowhere  accessible  in  a  con- 
densed and  accurate  shape.  "If  a  man  owes  no  money — 
if  he  pays  and  receives  cash — he  needs  to  keep  but  few  ac- 
counts," said  a  leading  man  at  Aurora  to  me. 

In  most  of  the  communes  there  is  no  annual  or  other  busi- 
ness statement  made  to  the  members ;  and  this  plan,  which  at 
first  seems  to  be  absurdly  insecure  and  unbusiness-like,  works 
well  in  practice.  Among  the  Shakers,  the  ministry,  whenever 
they  wish  to,  and  usually  once  a  year,  overhaul  the  accounts 
of  the  trustees.  The  extensive  business  affairs  of  the  Eappists 
have  always  been  carried  on  by  two  leading  men,  without 
supervision,  and  without  loss  or  defalcation.  At  Amana  it  is 
the  same,  as  well  as  at  Zoar,  Bethel,  and  Aurora.  The  fixed 
rule  of  the  communes,  not  to  run  in  debt,  is  a  wholesome  check 
on  trustees ;  and  though  defalcations  have  occurred  in  several 
of  the  Shaker  communes,  they  remain  satisfied  that  their  plan 
of  account-keeping  is  the  best. 

At  Oneida  they  have  a  very  thorough  system  of  book-keep- 
ing— more  complete  than  would  be  found,  I  suspect,  in  most 
large  manufacturing  establishments ;  and  there  I  received  def- 
inite and  accurate  statistical  information  with  but  little  delay. 
But  the  Perfectionists  have  a  more  keenly  mercantile  spirit 
than  any  of  the  other  communal  societies ;  they  are,  as  I  said 
before,  essentially  a  manufacturing  corporation. 

It  is  an  important  part  of  the  commune's  economies  in  liv- 


398    Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

ing  that  it  buys  its  supplies  at  wholesale.  Oddly  enough,  a 
person  at  Buffalo,  with  whom  I  spoke  of  the  Eben-Ezer  people, 
remarked  that  they  were  disliked  in  the  city,  because,  while 
they  sold  their  products  there,  they  bought  their  supplies  at 
wholesale  in  New  York.  The  retailer  and  middle -man  ap- 
pear to  have  vested  rights  nowadays.  People  seem  to  have 
thought  in  Buffalo  that  they  obliged  the  Eben-Ezer  men  by 
buying  their  vegetables.  I  have  heard  the  same  objection 
made  in  other  states  to  the  Shaker  societies :  "  They  are  of  no 
use  to  the  country,  for  they  buy  every  thing  in  the  city  at 
wholesale."  As  though  they  did  riot  pay  taxes,  besides  setting 
an  excellent  example  of  virtuous  and  moderate  living  to  their 
neighbors. 

The  simplicity  of  dress  usual  among  communists  works  also 
an  economy  not  only  in  means,  but  what  is  of  equal  impor- 
tance, and  might  be  of  greater,  a  saving  of  time  and  trouble 
and  vexation  of  spirit  to  the  women.  I  think  it  a  pity  that  all 
the  societies  have  not  a  uniform  dress ;  the  Shakers  and  Rap- 
pists  have,  and  it  is  an  advantage  in  point  of  neatness.  The 
slop-made  coats  and  trousers  worn  in  many  societies  quickly 
turn  shabby,  and  give  a  slouchy  appearance  to  the  men,  which 
is  disagreeable  to  the  eye,  and  must  be  more  or  less  demor- 
alizing to  the  wearers.  The  blue  jacket  of  the  Rappist  is  a 
very  suitable  and  comfortable  working  garment ;  and  the  long 
coat  of  the  Shaker  always  looks  decent  and  tidy. 

As  to  the  dress  of  the  women — in  Amana,  and  also  among 
the  Shakers,  the  intention  seems  to  be  to  provide  a  style  which 
shall  conceal  their  beauty,  and  make  them  less  attractive  to 
male  eyes ;  and  this  is  successfully  achieved.  At  Economy 
no  such  precautions  are  taken ;  the  women  wear  the  honest 
dress  of  German  peasants,  with  a  kind  of  Norman  cap,  and 
the  dress  is  sensible,  convenient,  and  by  no  means  uncomely. 
At  Oneida  the  short  dress,  with  trousers,  and  the  clipped  locks, 
though  convenient,  are  certainly  ugly.  Elsewhere  dress  is  not 


Comparative  View.  399 

much  thought  of.  But  in  all  the  societies  stuffs  of  good  qual- 
ity are  used ;  and  none  are  the  slaves  of  fashion.  I  need  not 
point  out  how  much  tinle  and  trouble  are  saved  to  women  by 
this  alone. 

The  societies  have  generally  as  good  schools  as  the  average 
of  the  common  schools  in  their  neighborhoods,  and  often  bet- 
ter. None  but  the  Oneida  and  Wallingf ord  Communists  favor 
a  "  liberal "  or  extended  education ;  these,  however,  have  sent 
a  number  of  their  young  men  to  the  Sheffield  scientific  school 
at  New  Haven.  The  Shakers  and  Rappists  teach  musical  no- 
tation to  the  children ;  and  all  the  communes,  except  of  course 
Icaria,  give  pretty  careful  religious  instruction  to  the  young. 

But,  besides  the  "  schooling,"  they  have  all  preserved  the 
wholesome  old  custom  of  teaching  the  boys  a  trade,  and  the 
girls  to  sew,  cook,  and  wash.  "  Our  boys  learn  as  much,  per- 
haps more  than  the  farmer's  or  village  boys,  in  our  schools; 
and  we  make  them  also  good  farmers,  and  give  them  thorough 
knowledge  of  some  useful  trade :"  this  was  often  said  to  me — 
and  it  seemed  to  me  a  good  account  to  give  of  the  training  of 
youth. 


III.  —  CHARACTER  OF  THE  PEOPLE;  INFLUENCES  OF 

LIFE. 


I  remark,  in  the  first  place,  that  all  the  successful  com- 
munes are  composed  of  what  are  customarily  called  "  common 
people." 

You  look  in  vain  for  highly  educated,  refined,  cultivated,  or 
elegant  men  or  women.  They  profess  no  exalted  views  of  hu- 
manity or  destiny  ;  they  are  not  enthusiasts  ;  they  do  not  speak 
much  of  the  Beautiful  with  a  big  B.  They  are  utilitarians. 
Some  do  not  even  like  flowers  ;  some  reject  instrumental  music. 
They  build  solidly,  often  of  stone  ;  but  they  care  nothing  for 


4OO     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

architectural  effects.  Art  is  not  known  among  them ;  mere 
beauty  and  grace  are  undervalued,  even  despised.  Amuse- 
ments, too,  they  do  not  value ;  only  a  few  communes  have  gen- 
eral libraries,  and  even  these  are  of  very  limited  extent,  except 
perhaps  the  library  at  Oneida,  which  is  well  supplied  with 
new  books  and  newspapers.  The  Perfectionists  also  encour- 
age musical  and  theatrical  entertainments,  and  make  amuse- 
ment so  large  a  part  of  their  lives  that  they  have  nearly  half 
a  dozen  committees  to  devise  and  superintend  them. 

At  Amana  and  Economy,  as  well  as  among  the  Shakers,  re- 
ligious meetings  are  the  principal  recreations ;  though  the 
Shaker  union  meetings,  where  the  members  of  a  family  visit 
each  other  in  small  groups,  may  be  called  a  kind  of  diversion. 
At  Economy,  in  the  summer,  the  people  enjoy  themselves  in 
flower-gardens,  where  they  gather  to  be  entertained  by  the 
music  of  a  band. 

2.  The  communists  do  not  toil  severely.     Usually  they  rise 
early — among  the  Shakers  at  half-past  four  in  the  summer, 
and  five  in  winter ;  and  in  most  of  the  other  communes  before 
or  about  sunrise.     They  labor  industriously,  but  not  exhaust- 
ingly,  all  the  day ;  and  in  such  ways  as  to  make  their  toil  com- 
fortable and  pleasant.     "Two  hired  workmen  would  do  as 
much  as  three  of  our  people,"  said  a  Shaker  to  me ;  and  at 
Amana  they  told  me  that  three  hired  men  would  do  the  work 
of  five  or  even  six  of  their  members.    "  We  aim  to  make  work 
not  a  pain,  but  a  pleasure,"  I  was  told ;  and  I  think  they  suc- 
ceed.    The  workshops  are  usually  very  comfortably  arranged, 
thoroughly  warmed  and  ventilated,  and  in  this  they  all  dis- 
play a  nice  care. 

3.  They  are  all  very  cleanly.     Even  in  those  communes,  as 
at  Aurora,  where  the  German  peasant  appears  to  have  changed 
but  very  little  most  of  his  habits,  cleanliness  is  a  conspicuous 
virtue.    The  Shaker  neatness  is  proverbial ;  at  Economy  every 
thing  looks  as  though  it  had  been  cleaned  up  for  a  Sunday  ex-. 


Comparative  View.  401 

animation.  In  the  other  German  communes  the  neatness  is 
as  conspicuous  within  the  houses,  but  it  does  not  extend  to  the 
streets  and  spaces  out  of  doors.  The  people  do  not  appear  to 
be  offended  at  the  sight  of  mud  in  winter,  and,  like  most  of 
our  Western  farmers,  do  not  know  what  good  roads  are.  The 
Perfectionists  pay  a  little  attention  to  landscape-gardening, 
and  have  laid  out  their  grounds  very  tastefully. 

4.  The  communists  are  honest.     They  like  thorough  and 
good  work;  and  value  their  reputation  for  honesty  and  fail- 
dealing.    Their  neighbors  always  speak  highly  of  them  in  this 
respect. 

5.  They  are  humane  and  charitable.     In  Kentucky,  during 
the   slavery   period,  the  Shakers   always  had  their   pick  of 
negroes  to  be  hired,  because  they  were  known  to  treat  them 
well.     At  New  Lebanon  I  was  told  that  a  farm-hand  was 
thought  fortunate  who  was  engaged  by  the  Mount  Lebanon 
Shakers.    At  Amana  and  at  Economy  the  hired  people  value 
their  situations  so  highly  that  they  willingly  conform  to  the 
peculiarities  of  the  commune,  so  far  as  it  is  demanded.     At 
Oneida,  where  a  large  number  of  men  and  women  are  em- 
ployed in  the  factories,  they  speak  very  highly  of  their  em- 
ployers, though  these  are  the  objects  of  prejudice  on  account 
of  their  social  system.    So,  too,  the  animals  of  a  commune  are 
always  better  lodged  and  more  carefully  attended  than  is  usual 
among  its  neighbors. 

6.  The  communist's  life  is  full  of  devices  for  personal  ease 
and  comfort.     At  Icaria,  owing  to  their  poverty,  comfort  was, 
until  within   a  year  or  two,  out  of  the  question — but  they 
did  what  they  could.     Among  the  other  and  more  prosperous 
communes,  a  good  deal  of  thought  is  given  to  the  conveniences 
of  life.    One  sees  very  perfectly  fitted  laundries ;  covered  ways 
by  which  to  pass  from  house  to  outhouses  in  stormy  weather ; 
ingenious  contrivances  for  ventilation,  and  against  drafts,  etc. 

7.  They  all  live  well,  according  to  their  different  tastes. 

EE 


4O2     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

Food  is  abundant,  and  well  cooked.  In  some  Shaker  com- 
munes a  part  of  the  family  eat  no  meat,  and  special  provision 
is  made  for  these.  Fruit  is  every  where  very  abundant,  and 
forms  a  large  part  of  their  diet ;  and  this  no  doubt  helps  to 
keep  them  healthy.  They  take  a  pride  in  their  store-rooms 
and  kitchens,  universally  eat  good  bread  and  butter,  and  live 
much  more  wholesomely  than  the  average  farmer  among  their 
neighbors. 

8.  They  are  usually  healthy,  though  in  some  communes  they 
have  a  habit  of  doctoring  themselves  for  fancied  diseases.    In 
almost  all  the  Shaker  communes  I  found  hospitals,  or  "  nurse- 
shops,"  as  they  call  them,  but  oftenest  they  were  empty.     In 
the  other  societies  I  saw  no  such  special  provision  for  serious 
or  chronic  diseases. 

9.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  communists  are  the  most  long- 
lived  of  our  population.     This  is  natural ;  they  eat  regularly 
and  well,  rise  and  retire  early,  and  do  not  use  ardent  spirits ; 
they  are  entirely  relieved  of  the  care  and  worry  which  in  in- 
dividual life  beset  every  one  who  must  provide  by  the  labor  of 
hand  or  head  for  a  family ;  they  are  tenderly  cared  for  when 
ill ;  and  in  old  age  their  lives  are  made  very  easy  and  pleas- 
ant.    They  live  a  great  deal  in  the  open  air  also.     Moreover, 
among  the  American  communists,  health  and  longevity  are 
made  objects  of  special  study ;  and  the  so-called  health  jour- 
nals are  read  with  great  interest.     It  results  that  eighty  is  not 
an  uncommon  age  for  a  communist ;  and  in  every  society,  ex- 
cept perhaps  in  Icaria,  I  saw  or  heard  of  people  over  ninety, 
and  still  hale  and  active. 

10.  They  are  temperate  in  the  use  of  wine  or  spirits,  and 
drunkenness  is  unknown  in  all  the  communes,  although  among 
the  Germans  the  use  of  wine  and  beer  is  universal.     The 
American  communes  do  not  use  either  at  all.     But  at  Econ- 
omy or  Amana  or  Zoar  the  people  receive  either  beer  or 
wine  daily,  and  especially  in  harvest-time,  when  they  think 


Comparative  View.  403 

these  more  wholesome  than  water.  At  Economy  they  have 
very  large,  substantially  built  wine-cellars,  where  some  excel- 
lent wine  is  stored. 

Is  it  not  possible  that  the  general  moderation  with  which 
life  is  pursued  in  a  commune,  the  quiet,  absence  of  exciting  or 
worrying  cares,  regularity  of  habit  and  easy  work,  by  keeping 
their  blood  cool,  decrease  the  tendency  to  misuse  alcoholic  bev- 
erages? There  is  no  doubt  that  in  the  German  communes 
wine  and  beer  are  used,  and  have  been  for  many  years,  in  a 
way  which  would  be  thought  dangerous  by  our  temperance 
people ;  but  I  have  reason  to  believe  without  the  occurrence 
of  any  case  of  habitual  intemperance.  Possibly  scientific  ad- 
vocates of  temperance  may  hereafter  urge  a  more  temperate 
and  sensible  pursuit  of  wealth  and  happiness,  a  less  eager  life 
and  greater  contentment,  as  more  conducive  to  what  we  nar- 
rowly call  "temperance"  than  all  the  total-abstinence  pledges. 

11.  It  is  a  fixed  principle  in  all  the  communes  to  keep  out 
of  debt,  and  to  avoid  all  speculative  and  hazardous  enterprises. 
They  are  content  with  small  gains,  and  in  an  old-fashioned 
way  study  rather  to  moderate  their  outlays  than  to  increase 
their  profits.     Naturally — as  they  own  in  common — they  are 
not  in  haste  to"  be  rich.    Those  of  them  who  have  suffered  from 
debt  feel  it  to  be  both  a  danger  and  a  curse.     None  of  the 
communes  make  the  acquisition  of  wealth  a  leading  object  of 
life.    They  have  greater  regard  to  independence  and  comfort. 
Their  surplus  capital  they  invest  in  land  or  in  the  best  securi- 
ties, such  as  United  States  bonds. 

12.  In  those  communes  where  the  family  relation  is  upheld, 
as  the  people  are  prosperous,  they  marry  young.    At  Amana 
they  do  not  permit  the  young  men  to  marry  before  they 
reach  the  age  of  twenty-four. 

In  the  celibate  societies  a  number  of  precautions  are  used 
to  keep  the  sexes  apart.  Among  the  Shakers,  especially,  there 
are  usually  separate  doors  and  stairways  in  the  dwelling-houses; 


404     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

the  workshops  of  the  sexes  are  in  different  buildings ;  they  eat 
at  separate  tables ;  and  in  their  meetings  men  and  women  are 
ranged  on  opposite  sides  of  the  hall.  Moreover,  no  one  is 
lodged  alone,  even  the  elders  and  ministry  sharing  the  sleep- 
ing-iroom  with  some  other  brother.  It  is  not  even  permitted 
that  a  man  and  woman  shall  stand  and  talk  together  on  the 
public  walk.  In  most  of  their  schools  the  sexes  are  also  sep- 
arated. In  some  of  their  dwellings,  where  but  a  single  stair- 
case exists,  there  is  a  rule  that  two  persons  of  opposite  sexes 
shall  not  pass  each  other  on  the  stairs.  They  are  not  allowed 
to  keep  pet  animals;  nor  to  enter  the  room  of  another  sex 
without  knocking  and  receiving  permission ;  nor  to  visit,  ex- 
cept by  appointment  of  the  elders  or  ministry ;  nor  to  make 
presents  to  each  other ;  nor  to  visit  the  shops  of  the  other  sex 
alone.  At  Economy  there  are  separate  entrance-ways  to  the 
dwellings  for  the  two  sexes. 

It  is  not  pretended  in  the  celibate  communes  that  the  celi- 
bate life  is  easy ;  they  confess  it  to  be  a  sacrifice ;  but  as  they 
are  moved  to  it  by  their  religious  faith,  they  rigorously  main- 
tain their  rule.  I  am  satisfied  that  very  few  cases  of  sexual 
irregularity  have  occurred  among  them,  and  they  rigorously 
expel  all  those  who  transgress  their  rules. 

It  is  natural  that  they  should  assert  that  celibacy  is  health- 
ful ;  and,  indeed,  they  point  to  the  long  life  and  general  good 
health  of  their  members  in  proof;  and  the  fresh  and  fair  com- 
plexions of  a  great  number  of  their  middle-aged  people  might 
be  cited  as  another  proof.  Yet  I  have  been  told  that  the 
women  are  apt  to  suffer  in  health,  particularly  at  the  critical 
period  of  life.  I  must  add,  however,  that  I  could  hear  of  no 
cases  of  insanity  or  idiocy  traceable  to  the  celibate  condition. 
Of  course  there  is  no  force  used  to  keep  members  in  a  com- 
mune; and  those  who  are  uncomfortable  leave  and  go  out 
into  the  world.  The  celibate  communes  keep  very  few  of 
the  young  people  whom  they  train  up. 


Comparative  View,  405 

13.  The  communal  life  appears  to  be,  at  first  view,  inexora- 
bly dull  and  dreary ;  and  the  surprise  was  the  greater  to  a  vis- 
itor like  myself  to  find  the  people  every  where  cheerful,  merry 
in  their  quiet  way,  and  with  a  sufficient  number  and  variety 
of  healthful  interests  in  life.     But,  after  all,  the  life  of  the 
communist  has  much  more  varied  interests  and  excitements 
than  that  of  the  farmer  or  his  family ;  for  a  commune  is  a  vil- 
lage, and  usually  forms  a  tolerably  densely  crowded  aggrega- 
tion of  people — more  like  a  small  section  cut  out  of  a  city  than 
like  even  a  village.     There  is  also  a  wholesome  variety  of  oc- 
cupations ;  and  country  life,  to  those  who  love  it,  presents  an 
infinite  fund  of  amusement  and  healthful  work. 

That  this  is  a  correct  view  is  shown  by  the  curious  fact  that 
at  Amana,  when  the  farmers  of  the  surrounding  country  bring 
in  their  wool,  which  they  sell  to  the  society,  they  bring  with 
them  their  wives  and  children,  who  find  enjoyment  in  a  stay 
at  the  little  inn  ;  at  Zoar  the  commune's  hotel  is  a  favorite  re- 
sort of  the  country  people  ;  the  neighbors  of  the  Icarians  come 
from  miles  around  to  attend  the  school  exhibitions  and  other 
diversions  of  these  communists ;  and  about  Aurora,  in  Oregon, 
the  farmers  speak  of  the  commune's  life  as  admirably  ar- 
ranged for  amusement  and  variety. 

14.  Several  of  the  societies  have  contrived  ingenious  me- 
chanical means  for  securing  harmony  and  eliminating  with- 
out violence  improper  or  rather  uncongenial  members;  and 
these  appear  to  me  to  be  of  high  importance.     The  Shakers 
use  what  they  call  "  Confession  of  sins  to  the  elders ;"  the 
Amana  people  have  an  annual  " untersuchung"  or  inquiry 
into  the  sins  and  the  spiritual  condition  of  the  members ;  the 
Perfectionists  use  what  they  rightly  call  "  Criticism  " — perhaps 
the  most  effective  of  all,  as  in  it  the  subject  is  not  left  to  tell 
his  own  tale,  but  sits  at  the  oyer  of  his  sins  and  disagreeable 
conduct,  being  judge  rather  than  witness.     But  all  these  de- 
vices are  meritorious,  because  by  their  means  petty  disputes 


406     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

are  quieted,  grievances  are  aired  and  thus  dispersed,  and  har- 
mony is  maintained ;  while  to  one  not  in  general  agreement 
with  the  commune  either  is  unbearable,  and  will  drive  him 
off.  As  I  have  described  these  practices  in  detail,  under  their 
proper  heads,  I  need  not  here  do  more  than  mention  them. 

In  judging  of  the  quality  of  the  communal  life,  I  have 
found  myself  constantly  falling  into  the  error  of  comparing  it 
with  my  own,  or  with  the  life  of  men  and  women  in  pleasant 
circumstances  in  our  great  cities.  Even  when  thus  studied  it 
has  merits — for  the  commune  gives  its  members  serenity  of 
spirit,  and  relieves  them  from  many  of  the  follies  to  which  even 
the  most  sensible  men  and  women  nowadays  are  reluctantly 
compelled  to  submit ;  not  to  speak  of  the  petty  and  lowering 
cares  which  these  follies  and  the  general  spirit  of  society  bring 
to  almost  every  one.  It  is  undoubtedly  an  advantage  to  live 
simply,  not  to  be  the  slave  of  fashion  or  of  the  opinion  of 
others,  and  to  keep  the  body  under  control. 

But  to  be  fairly  judged,  the  communal  life,  as  I  have  seen 
and  tried  to  report  it,  must  be  compared  with  that  of  the  me- 
chanic and  laborer  in  our  cities,  and  of  the  farmer  in  the 
country ;  and  when  thus  put  in  judgment,  I  do  not  hesitate  to 
say  that  it  is  in  many  ways — and  in  almost  all  ways — a  higher 
and  better,  and  also  a  pleasanter  life. 

It  provides  a  greater  variety  of  employment  for  each  indi- 
vidual, and  thus  increases  the  dexterity  and  broadens  the  fac- 
ulties of  men.  It  offers  a  wider  range  of  wholesome  enjoy- 
ments, and  also  greater  restraints  against  debasing  pleasures. 
It  gives  independence,  and  inculcates  prudence  and  frugality. 
It  demands  self-sacrifice,  and  restrains  selfishness  and  greed ; 
and  thus  increases  the  happiness  which  comes  from  the  moral 
side  of  human  nature.  Finally,  it  relieves  the  individual's  life 
from  a  great  mass  of  carking  cares,  from  the  necessity  of  over- 
severe  and  exhausting  toil,  from  the  dread  of  misfortune  or 
exposure  in  old  age. 


Comparative  View.  407 


If  the  communal  life  did  not  offer  such  or  equivalent  re- 
wards, no  commune  could  exist.  For  though  in  almost  all  of 
those  I  have  described  a  religious  thought  and  theory  enter  in, 
it  may  nevertheless  be  justly  said  that  all  arose  out  of  a  deep- 
seated  dissatisfaction  with  society  as  it  is  constituted — a  feel- 
ing which  is  well-nigh  universal,  and  affects  men  and  women 
more  the  more  thoughtful  they  are ;  that  they  continue  only 
because  this  want  of  something  better  is  gratified ;  but  that  a 
commune  could  not  long  continue  whose  members  had  not, 
in  the  first  place,  by  adverse  circumstances,  oppression,  or 
wrong,  been  made  to  feel  very  keenly  the  need  of  something 
better.  Hence  it  is  that  the  German  peasant  or  weaver  makes 
so  good  a  communist ;  and  hence,  too,  the  numerous  failures 
of  communistic  experiments  in  this  country,  begun  by  people 
of  culture  and  means,  with  a  sincere  desire  to  live  the  "  bet- 
ter life."  J.  H.  Noyes,  the  founder  of  the  Perfectionist  com- 
munes, gives,  in  his  book  on  "  American  Socialisms,"  brief  ac- 
counts of  not  less  than  forty-seven  failures,*  many  of  them 
experiments  which  promised  well  at  first,  and  whose  founders 
were  high-minded,  highly  cultivated  men  and  women,  with 
sufficient  means,  one  would  think,  to  achieve  success. 

Now,  why  these  successes  in  the  face  of  so  many  failures  ? 
Certainly  there  was  not  among  the  Shakers,  the  Rappists,  the 
Baumelers,  the  Eben-Ezers,  the  Perfectionists,  greater  business 

*  Here  is  a  list  of  titles,  which  I  take  from  Noyes :  The  Alphadelphia 
Phalanx,  Hopedale  Community,  Leroysville  Phalanx,  Bloomfield  Asso- 
ciation, Blue  Springs  Community,  North  American  Phalanx,  Ohio  Pha- 
lanx, Brook  Farm,  Bureau  County  Phalanx,  Raritan  Bay  Union,  Wiscon- 
sin Phalanx ;  the  Clarkson,  Clermont,  Columbian,  Coxsackie,  Skanea- 
teles,  Integral,  Iowa  Pioneer,  Jefferson  County,  La  Grange,  Turnbull, 
Sodus  Bay,  and  Washtenaw  Phalanxes ;  the  Forrestville,  Franklin,  Gar- 
den Grove,  Goose  Pond,  Haverstraw,  Kendall,  One  Meutian,  and  Yellow 
Springs  Communities ;  the  Marlborough,  McKean  County,  Mixville,  North- 
ampton, Spring  Farm,  and  Sylvania  Associations ;  the  Moorehouse  and 
the  Ontario  Unions ;  the  Prairie  Home ;  New  Harmony,  Nashoba,  New 
Lanark,  the  Social  Reform  Unity,  and  the  Peace  Union  Settlement. 


408     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

ability  or  more  powerful  leadership  ?  Greater  wealth  there 
was  not,,  for  most  of  the  successful  societies  began  poor.  If 
education  or  intellectual  culture  are  important  forces,  the 
unsuccessful  societies  had  these,  the  successful  ones  had  them 
not. 

Mr.  Noyes  believes  that  religion  must  be  the  base  of  a  suc- 
cessful commune.  Mr.  Greeley  agreed  with  him.  I  believe 
that  religion  must  be  the  foundation  of  every  human  society 
which  is  to  be  orderly,  virtuous,  and  therefore  self-denying, 
and  so  far  I  do  not  doubt  that  they  are  right.  But  if  it  is 
meant,  as  I  understand  them,  that  in  order  to  success  there 
must  be  some  peculiar  religious  faith,  fanatically  held,  I  do 
not  believe  it  at  all. 

I  believe  that  success  depends — together  with  a  general 
agreement  in  religious  faith,  and  a  real  and  spiritual  religion 
leavening  the  mass — upon  another  sentiment — upon  a  feeling 
of  the  nnbearableness  of  the  circumstances  in  which  they  find 
themselves.  The  general  feeling  of  modern  society  is  blindly 
right  at  bottom :  communism  is  a  mutiny  against  society. 

Only,  whether  the  communist  shall  rebel  with  a  bludgeon 
and  a  petroleum  torch,  or  with  a  plow  and  a  church,  depends 
upon  whether  he  has  not  or  has  faith  in  God — whether  he  is  a 
religious  being  or  not.  If  priestcraft  and  tyranny  have  sapped 
his  faith  and  debauched  his  moral  sense,  then  he  will  attack 
society  as  the  French  commune  recently  attacked  Paris — ani- 
mated by  a  furious  envy  of  his  more  fortunate  fellow-creat- 
ures, and  an  undiscrirninating  hatred  toward  every  thing  which 
reminds  him  of  his  oppressors,  or  of  the  social  system  from 
which  he  has  or  imagines  he  has  suffered  wrong.  If,  on  the 
contrary,  he  believes  in  God,  he  finds  hope  and  comfort  in  the 
social  theory  which  Jesus  propounded ;  and  he  will  seek  an- 
other way  out,  as  did  the  Rappists,  the  Eben-Ezers,  the  Jan- 
senists,  the  Zoarites,  and  not  less  the  Shakers  and  the  Perfec- 
tionists, each  giving  his  own  interpretation  to  that  brief  nar- 


Comparative  View.  409 

rative  of  Luke  in  which  he  describes  the  primitive  Christian 
Church : 

"  And  all  that  believed  were  together,  and  had  all  things  in 
common ;  and  sold  their  possessions  and  goods ;  and  parted 
them  to  all  men  as  every  man  had  need." 

These  words  have  had  a  singular  power  over  men  in  all 
ages  since  they  were  written.  They  form  the  charter  of  every 
communistic  society  of  which  I  have  spoken — for  even  the 
Icarians  recall  them. 


IV. — CONDITIONS  AND  POSSIBILITIES   OF  COMMUNISTIC 

LIVING. 

Keviewing  what  I  have  seen  and  written,  these  questions 
occur : 

I.  On  what  terms,  if  at  all,  could  a  carefully  selected  and 
homogeneous  company  of  men  and  women  hope  to  establish 
themselves  as  a  commune  \ 

II.  Would  they  improve  their  lives  and  condition  ? 

III.  Have  the  existing  societies  brought  communal  life  to  its 
highest  point;  or  is  a  higher  and  more  intellectual  life  com- 
patible with  that  degree  of  pecuniary  success  and  harmonious 
living  which  is  absolutely  indispensable  ? 

I.  I  doubt  if  men  and  women  in  good  circumstances,  or 
given  to  an  intellectual  life,  can  hope  to  succeed  in  such  an 
experiment.  In  the  beginning,  the  members  of  a  commune 
must  expect  to  work  hard ;  and,  to  be  successful,  they  ought 
always  to  retain  the  frugal  habits,  the  early  hours,  and  the  pa- 
tient industry  and  contentment  with  manual  labor  which  belong 
to  what  we  call  the  working  class.  Men  can  not  play  at  com- 
munism. It  is  not  amateur  work.  It  requires  patience,  sub- 
mission ;  self -sacrifice,  often  in  little  matters  where  self-sacrifice 


4io    Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

is  peculiarly  irksome ;  faith  in  a  leader ;  pleasure  in  plain  liv- 
ing and  healthful  hours  and  occupations. 

"Do  you  have  no  grumblers?"  I  asked  Elder  Frederick 
Evans  at  Mount  Lebanon ;  and  he  replied,  "  Yes,  of  course — 
and  they  grumble  at  the  elder.  That  is  what  he  is  for.  It  is 
necessary  to  have  some  one  man  to  grumble  at,  for  that  avoids 
confusion." 

"  Do  you  have  no  scandal  ?"  I  asked  at  Aurora,  and  they 
said,  "  Oh  yes — women  will  talk ;  but  we  have  learned  not  to 
mind  it." 

"Are  you  not  troubled  sometimes  with  disagreeable  mem- 
bers?" I  asked  at  Oneida;  and  they  answered,  "Yes;  but 
what  we  can  not  criticise  out  of  them  we  bear  with.  That  is 
part  of  our  life." 

"jBear  ye  one  another 's  burdens"  might  well  be  written 
over  the  gates  of  every  commune. 

Some  things  the  communist  must  surrender ;  and  the  most 
precious  of  these  is  solitude. 

The  man  to  whom  at  intervals  the  faces  and  voices  of  his 
kind  become  hateful,  whose  bitterest  need  it  is  to  be  some- 
times alone — this  man  need  not  try  communism.  For  in  a 
well-ordered  commune  there  is  hardly  the  possibility  of  "pri- 
vacy. You  are  part  of  a  great  family,  all  whose  interests  and 
all  whose  life  must  necessarily  be  in  common.  At  Oneida, 
when  a  man  leaves  the  house  he  sticks  a  peg  in  a  board,  to  tell 
all  his  little  world  where  he  is  to  be  found.  In  a  Shaker  fam- 
ily, the  elder  is  expected  to  know  where  every  man  is  at  all 
hours  of  the  day.  Moses,  wandering  over  the  desert  with  his 
great  commune,  occasionally  went  up  into  a  mountain ;  but  he 
never  returned  to  the  dead  level  of  his  Israelites  without  find- 
ing his  heart  fill  with  rage  and  despair.  Nor  is  this  surprising ; 
for  in  the  commune  there  must  be  absolute  equality;  there 
can  be  no  special  privileges ;  and  when  the  great  Leader,  resting 
his  spirit  on  the  mountain,  and  enjoying  the  luxury  of  solitude 


Comparative  View.  4 1 1 

and  retirement  from  the  hateful  sight  and  sounds  of  human 
kind,  "  delayed  to  come  down,"  his  fellow-communists  began 
at  once  to  murmur,  "  As  for  this  Moses,  the  man  who  brought 
us  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  we  wot  not  what  is  become  of 
him." 

Fortunately  —  else  there  would  be  no  communes — to  the 
greater  part  of  mankind  the  faces  and  voices  of  their  kind  are 
necessary. 

A  company  of  fifty,  or  even  of  twenty -five  families,  well 
known  to  each  other,  belonging  to  the  same  Christian  Church, 
or  at  least  united  upon  some  one  form  of  religious  faith,  com- 
posed of  farmers  or  mechanics,  or  both,  and  strongly  desirous 
to  better  their  circumstances,  and  to  live  a  life  of  greater  in- 
dependence and  of  greater  social  advantages  than  is  attainable 
to  the  majority  of  farmers  and  mechanics,  could,  I  believe,  if 
they  were  so  fortunate  as  to  possess  a  leader  of  sufficient  wis- 
dom and  unselfishness,  in  whom  all  would  implicitly  trust, 
make  an  attempt  at  communistic  living  with  strong  hopes  of 
success  ;  and  they  would  undoubtedly,  if  they  maintained  their 
experiment  only  ten  years,  materially  improve  their  condition ; 
and,  what  to  me  seems  more  important,  the  life  would  affect 
their  characters  and  those  of  their  children  in  many  ways 
beneficially. 

I  think  it  would  be  a  mistake  in  such  a  company  of  people 
to  live  in  a  "unitary  home."  They  should  be  numerous 
enough  to  form  a  village ;  they  should  begin  with  means  suf- 
ficient to  own  a  considerable  tract  of  land,  sufficient  to  supply 
themselves  with  food,  and  to  keep  as  much  stock  as  they  re- 
quired for  their  own  use.  They  should  so  locate  their  village 
as  to  make  it  central  to  their  agricultural  land.  They  should 
determine,  as  the  Kappists  did,  upon  a  uniform  and  simple 
dress  and  house,  and  upon  absolute  equality  of  living.  They 
should  place  all  the  power  in  the  hands  of  their  leader,  and 
solemnly  promise  him  unhesitating  trust  and  obedience ;  spec- 


4 1 2     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

ifying  only  that  he  should  contract  no  debts,  should  attempt 
no  new  enterprise  without  unanimous  consent,  and  should  at 
all  times  open  his  purposes  and  his  acts  to  the  whole  society. 
Finally,  they  should  expect  in  the  beginning  to  live  econom- 
ically— very  economically,  perhaps ;  and  in  every  case  within 
their  income. 

They  would,  of  course,  adopt  rules  as  to  hours  of  labor  and 
of  meals;  but  if  they  had  the  spirit  which  alone  can  give  suc- 
cess, these  matters  would  be  easily  settled — for  in  a  community 
men  are  more  apt  to  over-wrork  than  to  be  idle.  The  lazy 
men,  who  are  the  bugbears  of  speculative  communists,  are 
not,  so  far  as  I  have  heard,  to  be  found  in  the  existing  com- 
munes, and  I  have  often  and  in  different  places  been  told, 
especially  of  the  early  days :  "  We  worked  late  and  early, 
each  trying  how  much  he  could  accomplish,  and  singing  at 
our  work." 

In  a  commune,  which  is  only  a  large  family,  I  think  it  a 
great  point  gained  for  success  to  give  the  women  equal  rights 
in  every  respect  with  the  men.  They  should  take  part  in  the 
business  discussions,  and  their  consent  should  be  as  essential 
as  that  of  the  men  in  all  the  affairs  of  the  society.  This  gives 
them,  I  have  noticed,  contentment  of  mind,  as  well  as  enlarged 
views  and  pleasure  in  self-denial.  Moreover,  women  have  a 
conservative  spirit,  which  is  of  great  value  in  a  communistic 
society,  as  in  a  family ;  and  their  influence  is  always  toward  a 
higher  life. 

Servants  are  inadmissible  in  a  commune;  but  it  may  and 
ought  to  possess  conveniences  which  make  servants,  with  plain 
living,  needless.  For  instance,  a  common  laundry,  a  common 
butcher's  shop,  a  general  barn  and  dairy,  are  contrivances 
which  almost  every  commune  possesses,  but  which  hardly  any 
village  in  the  country  has.  A  clean,  hard  road  within  the 
communal  village  limits,  and  dry  side-walks,  would  be  attain- 
able with  ease.  •  A  church  and  a  school-house  ought  to  be 


Comparative  View.  413 

the  first  buildings  erected;  and  both  being  centrally  placed, 
either  could  be  used  for  such  evening  meetings  as  are  essential 
to  happy  and  successful  community  living. 

Finally,  there  should  be  some  way  to  bring  to  the  light 
the  dissatisfaction  which  must  exist  where  a  number  of  people 
attempt  to  live  together,  either  in  a  commune  or  in  the  usual 
life,  but  which  in  a  commune  needs  to  be  wisely  managed. 
For  this  purpose  I  know  of  no  better  means  than  that  which 
the  Perfectionists  call  "  criticism " — telling  a  member  to  his 
face,  in  regular  and  formal  meeting,  what  is  the  opinion  of  his 
fellows  about  him — which  he  or  she,  of  course,  ought  to  re- 
ceive in  silence.  Those  who  can  not  bear  this  ordeal  are  un- 
fit for  community  life,  and  ought  not  to  attempt  it.  But,  in 
fact,  this  "  criticism,"  kindly  and  conscientiously  used,  would  be 
an  excellent  means  of  discipline  in  most  families,  and  would 
in  almost  all  cases  abolish  scolding  and  grumbling. 

A  commune  is  but  a  larger  family,  and  its  members  ought 
to  meet  each  other  as  frequently  as  possible.  The  only  ad- 
vantage of  a  unitary  home  lies  in  this,  that  the  members  may 
easily  assemble  in  a  common  room  every  evening  for  an  hour, 
not  with  any  set  or  foreordained  purpose,  but  for  that  inter- 
change of  thought  and  experience  which  makes  up,  or  should, 
a  large  and  important  part  of  family  life.  Hence  every  com- 
mune ought  to  have  a  pleasantly  arranged  and  conveniently 
accessible  meeting-room,  to  which  books  and  newspapers,  mu- 
sic, and  cheap,  harmless  amusements  should  draw  the  people — 
women  and  children  as  well  as  men — two  or  three  times  a  week. 
Xor  is  such  meeting  a  hardship  in  a  commune,  where  plain 
living,  early  hours,  and  good  order  and  system  make  the  work 
light,  and  leave  both  time  and  strength  for  amusement. 

Tobacco,  spirituous  liquors,  and  cards  ought  to  be  prohibited 
in  every  commune,  as  wasteful  of  money,  strength,  and  time. 

The  training  of  children  in  strict  obedience  and  in  good 
habits  would  be  insisted  on  by  a  wise  leader  as  absolutely 


4 1 4     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

necessary  to  concord  in  the  society;  and  the  school-teacher 
ought  to  have  great  authority.  Moreover,  the  training  of  even 
little  children,  during  some  hours  of  every  day,  in  some  manual 
occupation,  like  knitting — as  is  done  at  Amana — is  useful  in 
several  ways.  Regular  and  patient  industry,  not  exhausting 
toil,  is  the  way  to  wealth  in  a  commune ;  and  children — who 
are  indeed  in  general  but  too  proud  to  be  usefully  employed, 
and  to  have  the  sense  of  accomplishing  something — can  not 
be  brought  into  this  habit  of  industry  too  early. 

What  now  might  the  members  of  such  a  community  expect 
to  gain  by  their  experiment  ?  Would  they,  to  answer  the  sec- 
ond question  above,  improve  their  lives  and  condition  ? 

Pecuniarily,  they  would  begin  at  once  a  vast  economy  and 
saving  of  waste,  which  could  hardly  help  but  make  them  pros- 
perous, and  in  time  wealthy.  A  commune  pays  no  wages ;  its 
members  "  work  for  their  board  and  clothes,"  as  the  phrase  is  ; 
and  these  supplies  are  either  cheaply  produced  or  bought  at 
wholesale.  A  commune  has  no  blue  Mondays,  or  idle  periods 
whatever ;  every  thing  is  systematized,  and  there  is  useful  em- 
ployment for  all  in  all  kinds  of  weather  and  at  all  seasons  of 
the  year.  A  commune  wastes  no  time  in  "  going  to  town,"  for 
it  has  its  own  shops  of  all  kinds.  It  totally  abolishes  the  middle- 
man of  every  kind,  and  saves  all  the  large  percentage  of  gain 
on  which  the  "  store-keepers  "  live  and  grow  rich  elsewhere.  It 
spends  neither  time  nor  money  in  dram-shops  or  other  places 
of  common  resort.  It  secures,  by  plain  living  and  freedom 
from  low  cares,  good  health  in  all,  and  thus  saves  "  doctors' 
bills."  It  does  not  heed  the  changes  in  fashion,  and  thus 
saves  time  and  strength  to  its  women.  Finally,  the  commu- 
nal life  is  so  systematized  that  every  thing  is  done  well,  at  the 
right  time,  and  thus  comes  another  important  saving  of  time 
and  iriaterial.  The  communal  wood-house  is  always  full  of 
well-seasoned  firewood :  here  is  a  saving  of  time  and  temper 
which  almost  every  Western  farmer's  wife  will  appreciate. 


Comparative  View.  415 

If  you  consider  well  these  different  economies,  it  will  cease 
to  be  surprising  that  communistic  societies  become  wealthy; 
and  this  without  severe  or  exhausting  toil.  The  Zoarites 
acknowledge  that  they  could  not  have  paid  for  their  land  had 
they  not  formed  themselves  into  a  commune ;  the  Amana 
Inspirationists  confess  that  they  could  not  have  maintained 
themselves  near  Buffalo  had  they  not  adopted  the  communal 
system. 

I  have  said  nothing  about  the  gain  of  the  commune  by  the 
thorough  culture  it  is  able  and  likely  to  give  to  land ;  its 
ability  to  command  at  any  moment  a  large  laboring  force  for 
an  emergency,  and  its  advantage  in  producing  the  best,  and 
selling  its  surplus  consequently  at  the  highest  market  price. 
But  these  are  not  slight  advantages.  I  should  say  that  the 
reputation  for  honesty  and  for  always  selling  a  good  article  is 
worth  to  the  Shakers,  the  Amana  and  other  communes,  at 
least  ten  per  cent,  over  their  competitors. 

On  the  moral  side  the  gain  is  evidently  great.  In  a  society 
so  intimately  bound  together,  if  there  are  slight  tendencies  to 
evil  in  any  member,  they  are  checked  and  controlled  by  the 
prevailing  public  sentiment.  The  possibility  of  providing 
with  ease  and  without  the  expenditure  of  money  good  train- 
ing and  education  for  children,  is  an  immense  advantage  for 
the  commune  over  the  individualist  who  is  a  farmer  or 
mechanic  in  a  new  country.  The  social  advantages  are  very 
great  and  evident.  Finally,  the  effect  of  the  communal  life 
upon  the  character  of  the  individual  is  good.  Diversity  of 
employments,  as  I  have  noticed  in  another  chapter,  broadens 
the  men's  faculties.  Ingenuity  and  mechanical  dexterity  are 
developed  to  a  surprising  degree  in  a  commune,  as  well  as 
business  skill.  The  constant  necessity  of  living  in  intimate 
association  with  others,  and  taking  into  consideration  their 
prejudices  and  weaknesses,  makes  the  communist  somewhat  a 
man  of  the  world ;  teaches  him  self -restraint ;  gives  him  a  lib- 


416     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

eral  and  tolerant  spirit;  makes  him  an  amiable  being.  Why 
are  all  communists  remarkably  cleanly?  I  imagine  largely 
because  filth  or  carelessness  would  be  unendurable  in  so  large 
a  family,  and  because  system  and  method  are  absolutely  nec- 
essary to  existence. 

But,  to  come  to  my  third  question,  the  communes  I  have 
visited  do  not  appear  to  me  to  make  nearly  as  much  of  their 
lives  as  they  might.  Most  of  them  are  ascetics,  who  avoid  the 
beautiful  as  tending  to  sin  ;  and  most  of  them,  moreover,  out 
of  the  force  of  old  habits,  and  a  conservative  spirit  which 
dreads  change,  rigidly  maintain  the  old  ways. 

In  the  beginning,  a  commune  must  live  with  great  economy, 
and  deny  itself  many  things  desirable  and  proper.  It  is  an 
advantage  that  it  should  have  to  do  this,  just  as  it  is  undoubt- 
edly an  advantage  to  a  young  couple  just  starting  out  in  life 
to  be  compelled  by  narrow  circumstances  to  frugal  living  and 
self-denial.  It  gives  unselfishness  and  a  wholesome  develop- 
ment of  character.  But  I  can  not  see  why  a  prosperous  com- 
mune should  not  own  the  best  books ;  why  it  should  not  have 
music ;  why  it  should  not  hear  the  most  eloquent  lecturers ; 
why  it  should  not  have  pleasant  pleasure-grounds,  and  devote 
some  means  to  the  highest  form  of  material  art — fine  architect- 
ure. It  seems  to  me  that  in  these  respects  the  communes  I 
have  visited  have  failed  of  their  proper  and  just  development ; 
and  I  believe  this  inattention  to  the  higher  and  intellectual 
wants  of  men  to  be  the  main  reason  of  their  generally  failing 
numbers.  They  keep  their  lives  on  the  plane  of  the  common 
farmer's  life  out  of  which  most  of  the  older  members  were 
gathered  —  and  their  young  people  leave  them,  just  as  the 
farmers  of  our  country  complain  that  their  boys  run  off  to  the 
cities.  The  individual  farmer  or  country  mechanic  can  not 
control  this ;  he  can  not  greatly  beautify  his  life,  or  make  it 
intellectually  richer.  But  to  the  commune,  once  well  estab- 
lished and  prosperous,  all  needful  things  are  possible,  so  far  as 


Comparative  View.  417 

money  cost  is  concerned ;  and  it  is  my  belief  that  neither  books 
nor  music,  nor  eloquence  nor  flowers,  nor  finely  kept  pleasure- 
grounds  nor  good  architecture  would  be  dangerous  to  the  suc- 
cess of  a  commune. 

In  another  respect,  the  communistic  societies  fall  short  of 
what  they  ought  to  be  and  do.  The  permanence  of  their  es- 
tablishments gives  them  extraordinary  advantages  for  observ- 
ing the  phenomena  of  climate  and  nature ;  and  it  would  add 
greatly  to  the  interest  of  their  lives  did  they  busy  and  interest 
themselves  with  observations  of  temperature,  and  of  the  vari- 
ous natural  phenomena  which  depend  upon  or  denote  climate : 
the  arrival  and  departure  of  birds ;  the  first  and  last  frosts ;  the 
blossoming  of  flowers  and  trees.  A.  Shaker  family  ought  to 
produce  records  of  this  kind  of  great  value  and  interest ;  and 
I  wonder  that  such  a  book  as  White's  "Selborne"  has  not 
tempted  some  communist  to  such  observations.  But  I  nowhere, 
except  at  Oneida,  found  more  than  a  very  superficial  interest 
in  natural  phenomena. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  here  is  a  field  of  innocent  and  health- 
ful amusement  which,  with  the  abundant  leisure  the  members 
of  a  prosperous  commune  enjoy,  could  be  worked  so  as  to  give 
a  new  and  ever-fresh  interest  to  the  lives  of  young  and  old. 

I  find  fault  also  with  the  isolation  in  which  communal  so- 
cieties live.  They  would  be  the  better  if  they  communicated 
fully  and  frequently  among  each  other,  and  interchanged 
thoughts  and  experiences.  Not  only  do  the  different  societies 
hold  aloof  from  each  other,  but  among  the  Shakers  even  fam- 
ilies do  not  communicate  or  advise  with  others  living  at  a  dis- 
tance. But  I  believe  this  is  to  be  remedied. 

Finally,  I  repeat  that  one  can  not  play  at  communism.  It 
is  earnest  work,  and  requires  perseverance,  patience,  and  all 
other  manly  qualities.  But  if  I  compare  the  life  in  a  con- 
tented and  prosperous,  that  is  to  say  a  successful  commune, 
with  the  life  of  an  ordinary  farmer  or  mechanic  even  in  our 

FF 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


THE  following  list  does  Dot  pretend  to  be  a  complete  bibli- 
ography of  Socialism  or  Communism.  It  contains  the  titles  of 
all  the  works  which  have  fallen  under  my  own  observation  re- 
lating to  the  Communistic  Societies  now  existing  in  the  United 
States,  and  referred  to  in  this  book.  Most  of  these  are  in  my 
own  collection ;  a  few  I  found  in  the  Congressional  Library 
or  in  the  hands  of  friends.  To  a  few  of  the  titles  I  have  ap- 
pended remarks  explanatory  of  their  contents. 

1.  A  Brief  Account  of  a  Religious  Scheme  taught  and  propagated  by  a 
number  of  Europeans  who  lately  lived  in  a  place  called  Nisqueunia,  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  but  now  residing  in  Harvard,  Commonwealth  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, commonly  called  Shaking  Quakers.     By  Valentine  Rathbone, 
Minister  of  the  Gospel.     To  which  is  added  a  Dialogue  between  George 
the  Third  of  Great  Britain  and  his  Minister,  giving  an  account  of  the  late 
London  mob,  and  the  original  of  the  Sect  called  Shakers.    The  whole  be- 
ing a  discovery  of  the  wicked  machinations  of  the  principal  enemies  of 
America.     "Worcester,  1782. 

[This  is  the  earliest  printed  mention  I  have  found  of  the  Shakers.  The  pam- 
phlet is  in  the  Congressional  Library,  and  came  from  the  Force  Collection.  Its 
intention  was  to  make  the  Shakers  odious  as  British  spies  ;  and  in  the  "  Dialogue  " 
between  the  king  and  his  minister,  "Lord  Germain"  is  made  to  comfort  the  king 
with  an  account  of  "  the  persons  who  were  sent  to  propagate  a  new  religious 
scheme  in  America,"  whose  accounts,  he  says,  are  "very  flattering,"  and  upon 
whom  he  depends  to  mislead  the  ignorant  Americans  into  opposition  to  the  "  reb- 
els." The  "  Dialogue  "  pretends  to  have  been  "  printed  London ;  reprinted  Wor- 
cester, 1782."] 

2.  Testimony  of  Christ's  Second  Appearing,  exemplified  by  the  Princi- 
ples and  Practice  of  the  Church  of  Christ.     History  of  the  Progressive 
Work  of  God,  extending  from  the  Creation  of  Man  to  the  Harvest,  com- 
prising the  Four  Great  Dispensations  now  consummating  in  the  Millennial 
Church.     Antichrist's  Kingdom  or  Churches,  contrasted  with  the  Church 


422     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

of  Christ's  First  and  Second  Appearing,  the  Kingdom  of  the  God  of 
Heaven.  Published  by  the  United  Society  called  Shakers.  No  date. 
(The  Preface  to  the  first  edition  is  dated  "  Lebanon,  O.,  1808."  Of  the 
fourth,  "  Watervliet,  N.  Y.,  1854 ;"  pp.  632.) 

3.  Autobiography  of  a  Shaker,  and  Revelation  of  the  Apocalypse,  with 
an  Appendix.     By  Frederick  W.  Evans.     New  York,  American  News 
Company,  1869,  pp.  162. 

4.  The  Same.    London,  J.  Burns,  1871,  with  a  photographic  portrait  of 
the  author. 

5.  Shaker's  Compendium  -of  the  Origin,  History,  Principles,  Rules  and 
Regulations,  Government  and  Doctrines  of  the  United  Society  of  Christ's 
Second  Appearing,  with  Biographies  of  Ann  Lee,  William  Lee,  James 
Whittaker,  J.  Hocknell,  J.  Meacham,  and  Lucy  Wright.    By  F.  W.  Evans. 
New  York,  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  1859,  pp.  189. 

6.  The  Nature  and  Character  of  the  True  Church  of  Christ  proved  by 
Plain  Evidences,  and  showing  whereby  it  may  be  known  and  distin- 
guished from  all  others.     Being  Extracts  from  the  Writings  of  John  Dun- 
lavy.    New  York,  printed  by  George  W.  Wood,  1850,  pp.  93. 

7.  The  Kentucky  Revival ;  or  a  Short  History  of  the  late  Extraordinary 
Outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  Western  States  of  America,  agree- 
ably to  Scripture  Promises  and  Prophecies  concerning  the  Latter  Day, 
with  a  Brief  Account  of  the  Entrance  and  Purposes  of  what  the  World  call 
Shakerism,  among  the  Subjects  of  the  late  Revival  in  Ohio  and  Kentucky. 
Presented  to  the  True  Zion  Traveler  as  a  Memorial  of  the  Wilderness  Jour- 
ney.    By  Richard  McNemar.     New  York.     Reprinted  by  Edward  O. 
Jenkins,  1846.    pp.  156.     (The  Preface  is  dated  "  Turtle  Creek,  1807.") 

8.  The  Same.    Press  of  John  W.  Brown,  Liberty  Hall,  Cincinnati,  1807. 

9.  The  Same.    Albany,  1808. 

10.  A  Short  Treatise  on  the  Second  Appearing  of  Christ  in  and  through 
the  Order  of  the  Female.     By  F.  W.  Evans,  New  Lebanon,  N.  Y.     Boston, 
1853,  pp.  24. 

11.  A  Brief  Exposition  of  the  Established  Principles  and  Regulations  of 
the  United  Society  of  Believers  called  Shakers.     New  York,  1851,  pp.  30. 

12.  The  Same.    Watervliet,  Ohio,  1832. 

13.  The  Same.    Canterbury,  N.  H.,  1843. 

14.  Shaker  Communism ;   or  Tests  of  Divine  Inspiration.     The  Sec- 
ond Christian  or  Gentile  Pentecostal  Church,  as  exemplified  by  Seventy 
Communities  of  Shakers  in  America.     By  F.  W.  Evans.    London,  James 
Burns,  1871,  pp.  120. 


Bibliography.  423 


15.  Religious  Communism.     A  Lecture  by  F.  W.  Evans  (Shaker),  of 
Mount  Lebanon,  Columbia  Co.,  New  York,  U.  S.  A.,  delivered  in  St. 
George's  Hall,  London,  Sunday  evening,  August  6th,  1871 ;  with  Intro- 
ductory Remarks  by  the  Chairman  of  the  Meeting,  Mr.  Hepworth  Dixon. 
Also  some  Account  of  the  Extent  of  the  Shaker  Communities,  and  a  Nar- 
rative of  the  Visit  of  Elder  Evans  to  England.    An  abstract  of  a  Lecture 
by  Rev.  J.  M.  Peebles,  and  his  Testimony  in  regard  to  the  Shakers. 

16.  Plain  Talks  upon  Practical  Religion.     Being  Candid  Answers  to 
Earnest  Inquirers.    By  Geo.  Albert  Lomas,  Shaker.    (Watervliet),  N.  Y., 
1873,  pp.  24. 

17.  Ann  Lee,  the  Founder  of  the  Shakers.      A  Biography,  with  Me- 
moirs of  her  Companions.     Also  a  Compendium  of  the  Origin,  History, 
Principles,  Rules  and  Regulations,  Government  and  Doctrines  of  the 
United  Society  of  Believers  in  Christ's  Second  Appearing.     By  F.  W. 
Evans.    London,  J.  Burns.     (The  same  as  No.  5.) 

18.  The  Shaker  and  Shakeress.     A  monthly  paper.    Published  by  the 
United  Society,  Mount  Lebanon,  N.  Y.     F.  W.  Evans,  Editor. 

19.  Social  Gathering  Dialogue  between  Six  Sisters  of  the  North  Fam- 
ily of  Shakers,  Mount  Lebanon,  N.  Y.    Albany,  1873,  pp.  18. 

20.  Shakerism,  the  Possibility  of  the  Race.     Being  Letters  of  A.  B.  B. 
and  Elder  F.  W.  Evans.     Office  of  the  Shaker,  1872,  pp.  14. 

21.  The  Universal  Church.     By  F.  W.  Evans.     Office  of  the  Shaker, 
1872,  pp.  16. 

22.  Catalogue  of  Medicinal  Plants,  Barks,  Roots,  Seeds,  Flowers,  and  Se- 
lect Powders,  with  their  Therapeutic  Qualities  and  Botanical  Names ;  also 
Pure  Vegetable   Extracts,  prepared  in  vacuo;    Ointments,  Inspissated 
Juices,  Essential  Oils,  Double-distilled  and  Fragrant  Waters,  etc.,  raised, 
prepared,  and  put  up  in  the  most  careful  manner  by  the  United  Society  of 
Shakers  at  Mount  Lebanon,  N.Y.     First  established  in  1800,  being  the 
oldest  of  the  kind  in  the  country.      Albany,  N.  Y.,  1873,  pp.  58. 

23.  Plain  Evidences  by  which  the  Nature  and  Character  of  the  True 
Church  of  Christ  may  be  known  and  distinguished  from  all  others.    Tak- 
en from  a  work  entitled,  "  The  Manifesto,  or  a  Declaration  of  the  Doc- 
trines and  Practice  of  the  Church  of  Christ."    Published  at  Pleasant  Hill. 
Kentucky,  1818.     By  John  Dunlavy.     Printed  by  Hoffman  &  White,  Al- 
bany, 1834,  pp.  120. 

24.  A  Collection  of  Millennial  Hymns,  adapted  to  the  present  Order 
of  the  Church.    Printed  in  the  United  Society,  Canterbury,  N.  H.,  1847, 
pp.  200. 


424      Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

25.  A  Sacred  Repository  of  Anthems  and  Hymns,  for  devotional  Wor- 
ship and  Praise.     Canterbury,  N.  H.,  1852,  pp.  222. 

26.  Testimonies  concerning  the  Character  and  Ministry  of  Mother  Ann 
Lee  and  the  First  Witnesses  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ's  Second  Appear- 
ing, given  by  some  of  the  aged  Brethren  and  Sisters  of  the  United  So- 
ciety ;  including  a  few  Sketches  of  their  own  Religious  Experiences. 
Approved  by  the  Church.     Albany,  printed  by  Packard  &  Van  Ben- 
thuysen,  1827,  pp.  178. 

27.  Familiar  Dialogues  on  Shakerism ;  in  which  the  Principles  of  the 
United  Society  are  illustrated  and  defended.     By  Fayette  Mace.     Port- 
land, Charles  Day  &  Co.,  Printers,  1838,  pp.  120. 

28.  The  Same.     Concord,  1838. 

29.  A  Discourse  of  the  Order  and  Propriety  of  Divine  Inspiration  and 
Revelation,  showing  the  Necessity  thereof  in  all  Ages  to  know  the  Will 
of  God.     Also,  a  Discourse  on  the  Second  Appearing  of  Christ  in  and 
through  the  Order  of  the  Female.    And  a  Discourse  on  the  Propriety  and 
Necessity  of  a  United  Inheritance  in  all  Things  in  order  to  Support  a 
true  Christian   Community.     By  William   Leonard.     Harvard   (Mass.), 
published  by  the  United  Society,  1853,  pp.  88. 

30.  A  Brief  Illustration  of  the  Principles  of  War  and  Peace,  showing 
the  ruinous  Policy  of  the  former,  and  the  superior  Efficacy  of  the  latter, 
for  National  Protection  and  Defense ;  clearly  manifested  by  their  prac- 
tical Operations  and  opposite  Effects  upon  Nations,  Kingdoms,  and  Peo- 
ple.   By  Philanthropos.     Albany,  printed  by  Packard  &  Van  Benthuy- 
sen,  1831,  pp.  112. 

31.  Some  Lines  in  Verse  about  Shakers,  not  Published  by  Authority 
of  the  Society  so  called.     New  York,  William  Taylor  &  Co.,  No.  2  Astor 
House,  1846,  pp.  56. 

32.  A  Concise  Anawer  to  the  General  Inquiry  who  or  what  are  the 
Shakers.     First  printed  at  Union  Village,  Ohio,  1823.    Reprinted  at  En- 
field,  N.  H.,  1825.    Albion  Chase,  Printer,  pp.  14. 

33.  The  Life  of  Christ  is  the  End  of  the  World.    By  George  Albert 
Lomas.     Watervliet,  1869,  pp.  16. 

34.  The  Higher  Law  of  Spiritual  Progression.     Albany,  1868,  pp.  32. 

35.  The  Social  Evil.    By  James  J.  Prescott.    North  Union  (Ohio),  1870, 
pp.  14. 

36.  A  Shaker's  Answer  to  the  oft-repeated  Question  "  What  would  be- 
come of  the  World  if  all  should  become  Shakers  ?"    Orders  supplied  by 
John  Whiteley,  Shirley  Village,  Massachusetts.    Boston,  1874,  pp.  32. 


Bibliography.  425 


37.  The  Same.     By  R.  W.  Pelham.     Cincinnati,  1868,  pp.  32. 

38.  Shakers :  A  Correspondence  between  Mary  F.  C.,  of  Mount  Holly 
City,  and  a  Shaker  Sister,  Sarah  L.,  of  Union  Village.    Edited  by  R.  W. 
Pelham.    Union  Village,  Ohio,  1868,  pp.  24. 

39.  Respect  and  Veneration  due  from  Youth  to  Age.     New  Bedford, 
1870,  pp.  15. 

40.  The  Universal  Church.     By  F.  W.  Evans.     Office  of  the  Shaker. 
Shakers,  N.  Y.,  1872,  pp.  16. 

41.  Improved  Shaker  Washing-machine,  ete.    Manufactured  and  for 
sale  by  the  United  Society  of  Shakers,  at  Shaker  Village,  K  H.,  pp.  12. 

42.  The  Divine  Book  of  Holy  and  Eternal  Wisdom,  revealing  the  Word 
of  God,  out  of  whose  Mouth  goeth  a  sharp  Sword.     Written  by  Paulina 
Bates,  at  Watervliet,  New  York,  United  States  of  North  America ;  includ- 
ing other  Illustrations  and  Testimonies.     Arranged  and  prepared  for  the 
Press  at  New  Lebanon,  N.  Y.    Published  by  the  United  Society  called 
Shakers.     Printed  at  Canterbury,  N.  H.,  1849,  pp.  718. 

43.  A  Holy,  Sacred,  and  Divine  Roll  and  Book,  from  the  Lord  God 
of  Heaven  to  the  Inhabitants  of  Earth.    Revealed  in  the  United  Society 
at  New  Lebanon,  County  of  Columbia,  State  of  New  York,  United  States 
of  America.    Received  by  the  Church  of  this  Communion,  and  published 
in  Union  with  the  same.     Printed  in  the  United  Society,  Canterbury, 
N.H.,1843,pp.412. 

44.  A  Summary  View  of  the  Millennial  Church,  or  United  Society  of 
Believers,  comprising  the  Rise,  Progress,  and  Practical  Order  of  the  So- 
ciety, together  with  the  general  Principles  of  their  Faith  and  Testimony, 
1823.     (2d  edition,  revised  and  improved)  republished  by  the  United 
Society  with  the  approbation  of  the  Ministry.     Albany,  printed  by  C. 
Van  Benthuysen,  1848,  pp.  384. 

45.  The  Testimony  of  Christ's  Second  Appearing ;  containing  a  gen- 
eral Statement  of  all  Things  pertaining  to  the  Faith  and  Practice  of  the 
Church  of  God  in  this  Latter  Day.    Published  in  Union  by  Order  of  the 
Ministry.     Lebanon,  Ohio,  from  the  Press  of  John  M'Clean,  office  of  the 
Western  Star,  1808,  pp.  618. 

46.  The  Same.    2d  edition,  corrected  and  improved.     Albany,  1810, 
pp.  660. 

47.  The  Same.     3d  edition,  corrected  and  improved.     Union  Village, 
Ohio.     B.  Fisher  &  A.  Burnett,  Printers,  1823,  pp.  621. 

48.  Account  of  some  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Legislatures  of  the 
States  of  Kentucky  and  New  Hampshire,  1828,  etc.,  in  Relation  to  the 
People  called  Shakers.     Reprinted,  New  York,  1846,  pp.  103. 


426     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

49.  A  Selection  of  Hymns  and  Poems  for  the  Use  of  Believers ;  collected 
from  sundry  Authors.     By  Philos  -  Harmonise.     Watervliet,  Ohio,  1833, 
pp.  186. 

50.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  Society  of  Believers  called  Shak- 
ers ;  containing  sundry  Covenants  and  Articles  of  Agreement  definitive 
of  the  Legal  Grounds  of  the  Institution.     Watervliet,  Ohio,  1833,  pp. 
16. 

[Contains  several  forms  of  the  Church  Covenant,  from  1810  down  to  1833.] 

51.  Condition  of  Society  and  its  only  Hope  in  obeying  the  Everlasting 
Gospel,  as  now  developing  among  Believers  in  Christ's  Second  Appear- 
ing.   Printed  and  published  at  the  Day  Star  Office,  Union  Village,  Ohio, 
1847,  pp.  121. 

52.  A  Juvenile  Guide,  or  Manual  of  Good  Manners,  consisting  of  Coun- 
sels, Instructions,  and  Rules  of  Deportment  for  the  Young,  by  Lovers  of 
Youth.    In  Two  Parts.    Printed  in  the  United  Society,  Canterbury,  N.  H., 
1844,  pp.  137. 

53.  Shakerism  Detected,  a  Pamphlet  published  by  Col.  James  Smith, 
of  Kentucky,  Examined  and  Confuted  in  Five  Propositions.     Published 
at  Lebanon,  Ohio,  and  Lexington,  Kentucky,  1811,  by  Richard  McNe- 
mar.    Reprinted  by  Request.    "Watervliet,  Ohio,  May  2, 1833,  pp.  12. 

54.  General  Rules  of  the  United  Society,  and  Summary  Articles  of  Mu- 
tual Agreement  and  Release,  Ratified  and  Confirmed  by  the  Society  at 
Watervliet,  Montgomery  County,  Ohio,  January,  1833.    Union  Office,  1833, 
pp.7. 

[Contains  the  signatures  of  members.] 

55.  The  Shakers :  Speech  of  Robert  WicklifFe  in  the  Senate  of  Ken- 
tucky, January,  1831,  on  a  Bill  to  Repeal  an  Act  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  State  of  Kentucky,  entitled  an  Act  to  Regulate  Civil  Pro- 
ceedings against   certain   Communities  having  Property  in   Common. 
Frankfort,  Ky.,  1832.  pp.  32. 

56.  A  Memorial  Remonstrating  against  a  certain  Act  of  the  Legislature 
of  Kentucky  entitled  an  Act  to  Regulate  Civil  Proceedings  against  cer- 
tain Communities  having  Property  in  Common,  and  declaring  that  it  shall 
and  may  be  lawful  to  commence  and  prosecute  suits,  obtain  decrees,  and 
have  execution  against  any  of  the  Communities  of  People  called  Shakers, 
without  naming  or  designating  the  individuals,  or  serving  process  on 
them  otherwise  than  by  fixing  a  Subpoena  on  the  door  of  their  Meeting- 
house, etc.     Union  Office,  Harrodsburg,  Ky.,  1830,  pp.  8. 

57.  An  Address  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  Protesting  against  a  certain  Clause 


Bibliography.  427 


of  the  Militia  Law  enacted  by  the  Legislature.    Lebanon,  Ohio,  Office  of 
the  Farmer,  1818,  pp.  24. 

58.  Investigator ;  or  a  Defense  of  the  Order,  Government,  and  Econo- 
my of  the  United  Society  called  Shakers  against  sundry  Charges  and 
Legislative  Proceedings.    Addressed  to  the  Political  World  by  the  Soci- 
ety of  Believers  at  Pleasant  Hill,  Kentucky.    Lexington,  Ky.,  Smith  & 
Palmer,  1828,  pp.  57. 

59.  A  Brief  Statement  of  the  Sufferings  of  Mary  Dyer,  occasioned  by 
the  Society  called  Shakers.    Written  by  Herself.    To  which  is  added  Af- 
fidavits and  Certificates;  also  a  Declaration  from  their  own  Publication. 
Concord,  N.  H.,  1818,  pp.  35. 

60.  A  Compendious  Narrative,  Elucidating  the  Character,  Disposition, 
and  Conduct  of  Mary  Dyer,  from  the  Time  of  her  Marriage,  in  1799,  till 
she  left  the  Society  called  Shakers  in  1815,  etc.    By  her  Husband,  Joseph 
Dyer.    To  which  is  annexed  a  Remonstrance  against  the  Testimony  and 
Application  of  the  said  Mary  for  Legislative  Interference.     Concord,  by 
Isaac  Hill,  for  the  Author,  1818,  pp.  90. 

61.  The  Memorial  of  the  Society  of  People  of  Canterbury,  in  the  Coun- 
ty of  Rockingham,  and  Enfield,  in  the  County  of  Grafton,  commonly 
called  Shakers.     (No  date— but  about  1818),  pp.  13. 

62.  Tests  of  Divine  Inspiration,  or  the  Rudimental  Principles  by  which 
True  and  False  Revelation  in  all  Eras  of  the  World  can  be  Unerringly 
Discriminated.     By  F.  W.  Evans.     New  Lebanon,  1853,  pp.  128. 

63.  Public  Discourses  delivered  in  Substance  at  Union  Village,  Ohio. 
August,  1823,  pp.  36. 

64.  A  Revision  and  Confirmation  of  the  Social  Compact  of  the  United 
Society  called  Shakers,  at  Pleasant  Hill,  Kentucky.     Published  by  Order 
of  the  Church.     Harrodsburg,  Ky.,  1830,  pp.  12. 

65.  A  Short  Abridgment  of  the  Rules  of  Music,  with  Lessons  for  Ex- 
ercise, and  a  few  Observations  for  New  Beginners.    New  Lebanon,  1843 ; 
reprinted  1846,  pp.  40. 

66.  Sixteen  Years  in  the  Senior  Order  of  Shakers,  a  Narrative  of  Facts 
concerning  that  singular  People.     By  Hervey  Elkins.     Hanover,  N.  EL, 
1853,  pp.  136. 

67.  The  Shaker  Society  against  Gass  &  Banta.    (Brief  of  a  case  in  Ken- 
tucky.)    No  date,  pp.  8. 

68.  Catalogue  of  Medicinal  Plants,  Extracts,  Essential  Oils,  etc.,  pre- 
pared and  for  sale  by  the  United  Society  of  Shakers  at  Union  Village. 
Ohio. 


428     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

69.  Shakerism  Unmasked,  or  a  History  of  the  Shakers.     By  William 
J.  Haskett.    Pittsfield,  1828. 

70.  Two  Years'  Experience  among  the  Shakers  :  A  Condensed  View  of 
Shakerism  as  it  is.    By  David  R.  Lamsen.     West  Boylston,  1848. 

71.  The  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Serpent,  from  the  Garden  of  Eden  to 
the  Present  Day,  with  a  Disclosure  of  Shakerism,  etc. ;  also  the  Life  and 
Sufferings  of  the  Author,  who  was  Mary  Dyer,  but  now  is  Mary  Marshall. 
Concord,  N.  H.,  1847. 

72.  An  Account  of  the  People  called  Shakers — their  Faith,  Doctrines, 
and  Practice.     By  Thomas  Brown,  of  Cornwall,  Orange  County,  N.  Y. 
Troy,  1812. 

73.  History  of  American  Socialisms.    By  John  Humphrey  Noyes.    Phila- 
delphia, J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.,  1870,  pp.  678. 

74.  Oneida  Community  Cooking,  or  a  Dinner  without  Meat.     By  Har- 
riet H.  Skinner.     Oneida,  N.  Y.,  1873,  pp.  51. 

75.  Essay  on  Scientific  Propagation.     By  John  Humphrey  Noyes,  with 
an  Appendix  containing  a  Health  Report  of  the  Oneida  Community.    By 
Theodore  R.  Noyes,  M.D.    Published  by  the  Oneida  Community,  Oneida, 
N.  Y.     (No  date— about  1873),  pp.  32. 

76.  Male  Continence.     By  John  Humphrey  Noyes.     Published  by  the 
Oneida  Community,  Office  of  the  Circular,  Oneida,  N.  Y.,  1872,  pp.  24. 

77.  Hand-book  of  the  Oneida  Community,  containing  a  Brief  Sketch  of 
its  Present  Condition,  Internal  Economy,  and  Leading  Principles.     Pub- 
lished by  the  Oneida  Community,  N.  Y.,  1871,  pp.  64.      . 

78.  Salvation  from  Sin  the  End  of  Christian  Faith.     By  J.  H.  Noyes. 
Published  by  the  Oneida  Community,  Mount  Tom  Printing-house,  Wal- 
lingford  Community,  Conn.,  1869,  pp.  48. 

79.  Dixon  and  his  Copyists  :  A  Criticism  of  the  Accounts  of  the  Onei- 
da Community  in  "  New  America,"  "  Spiritual  Wives,"  and  kindred  Pub- 
lications.    By  John  Humphrey  Noyes.    Published  by  the  Oneida  Com- 
munity, 1871,  pp.  40. 

80.  Faith  Facts ;  or  a  Confession  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  the  Age 
of  Miracles.    Edited  by  George  Cragin.     Oneida  Reserve,  N.  Y.,  1850, 
pp.  40. 

81.  Favorite  Hymns  for  Community  Singing,  1855,  pp.  32.     (Oneida 
Communists.) 

82.  The  Way  of  Holiness ;  a  Series  of  Papers  published  in  the  Perfection- 
ist, New  Haven.     By  J.  H.  Noyes.    Printed  by  J.  H.  Noyes  &  Co.,  1838. 

[The  company  consisted  of  himself,  his  wife,  brother,  and  two  sisters.] 


Bibliography.  429 


83.  Paul  not  Carnal.     New  Haven,  1834. 

84.  The  Perfectionist.     New  Haven,  1834. 

85.  The  Way  of  Holiness.     Putney,  Vt.,  1838. 

86.  The  Witness.     Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  and  Putney,  Vt.,  1838-43. 

87.  The  Perfectionist.     Putney,  Vt,  1843-46. 

88.  The  Spiritual  Magazine.     Oneida,  1848-50. 

89.  The  Free  Church  Circular.     Oneida,  1850-51. 

90.  The  Circular.     Oneida,  1854-74. 

91.  First  Annual  Report  of  the  Oneida  Association.     Oneida,  1849. 

92.  Faith  Facts.     Oneida,  1850. 

93.  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Oneida  Association.     Oneida,  1850. 

94.  Third  Annual  Report  of  the  Oneida  Association.     Oneida,  1851. 

95.  Bible  Communism.     Brooklyn,  1853. 

96.  The  Trapper's  Guide.     Wallingford,  1867. 

97.  Die  Wahre  Separation,  oder  die  Wiedergeburt,  dargestellt  in  geist- 
reichen  und  erbaulichen  Versammlung's  Reden  und  Betrachtungen,  be- 
sonders  auf  das  gegenwartige  Zeitelter  anwendbar.     Gehalten  an  die 
Gemeinde  in  Zoar  im  Jahre  1830.     Gedruckt  in  Zoar,  O.,  1856.     (The 
True  Separation,  or  the  Second  Birth,  presented  in  Spiritual  and  Devo- 
tional Discourses  and  Lectures,  applicable  particularly  to  the  Present 
Time.    Delivered  to  the  Congregation  at  Zoar  in  1830.    Printed  at  Zoar, 
1856.)     Three  volumes  quarto,  pp.  2574. 

[These  are  by  Baumeler,  the  founder  of  the  Zoar  Community ;  cud  contain  a 
great  many  curious  theories  of  life,  present  and  future.] 

98.  Sammlung  Auserlesener  geistlicher  Lieder,  zum  Gemeinschaftlichen 
Gesa'ng  und  eigenen  Gebrauch  in  Christlichen  Familien.   Zoar,  Ohio,  1867. 
(Collection  of  Selected  Sacred  Hymns,  for  the  use  of  Churches  and  Indi- 
viduals in  Christian  Families.)    pp.  169. 

[Baumeler' s  Collection,  now  in  use  at  Zoar.  This  is  the  "  second  and  improved 
edition."] 

99.  Jahrbiicher  der  Wahren  Inspiration's  Gemeinden,  oder  Bezeugun- 
gen  des  Geistes  des  Herrn.    Gedruckt  zu  Eben-Ezer  bei  Buffalo.    (Year- 
books of  the  True  Inspiration's  Congregations,  or  Witnesses  of  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord.     Printed  at  Eben-Ezer,  near  Buffalo.) 

[This  is  a  series  of  volumes,  containing  the  utterances  of  the  "  Inspired  Instru- 
ments "  of  the  Amana  Society.  They  publish  a  volume  for  each  year,  but  are  now 
in  arrears.] 

100.  Historische  Beschreibung  der  Wahren  Inspiration's  Gemeinschaft, 
wie  sie  bestanden  und  sich  fortgepflanzt  hat,  und  was  von  den  wichtig- 


430     Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 

sten  Ereignissen  noch  ausgefunden  werden  kann,  besonders  wie  sie  in  den 
Jahren  1817  und  1818  und  so  fort  wieder  durch  den  Geist  Gottes  in 
neuen  Werkzeugen  aufgeweckt  worden,  und  was  seit  der  Zeit  in  und  mit 
dieser  Gemeinde  und  deren  herzugekommenen  Gliedern  wichtiges  vorge- 
fallen.  Aufgeschrieben  von  Christian  Metz.  (Historical  Description  of 
the  True  Inspiration's  Community,  etc.)  It  is  written  by  the  Spiritual 
Head  of  the  Amana  Community. 

101.  J.  J.  J.    Exegetische  Reimen-Probe,  iiber  die  Letzte  Rede  unsers 
Herrn  Jesu  Christi  an  Seine  Wahrhaftige  Jiinger,  etc.,  begriifen,  abge- 
fasset  und  mitgetheilet  in  Einfaltigem  Liebes  Gehorsam.     Neu  aufgelegt 
im  Jahr  1860.     Eben-Ezer,  bei  Buffalo,  N.  Y.     (Exegetical  Rhymes  con- 
cerning the  Last  Address  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  his  True  Disciples, 
etc.,  conceived,  written  down,  and  imparted  by  Simple,  Loving  Obedience. 
Newly  printed  at  Eben-Ezer,  N.  Y.,  1860.) 

[It  is  in  several  volumes,  and  is  a  rhymed  rendering,  with  numerous  reflections, 
of  several  chapters  of  John,  beginning  with  the  14th.  The  author  was  an  old 
Mystic,  E.  L.  Gruber.  The  first  volume,  the  only  one  I  have,  has  437  pages.  I  do 
not  know  why  this  and  other  volumes  have  J.  J.  J.  prefixed  to  the  title.] 

102.  B.  cum  D !    Die  XXXVI.  Sammlung,  Das  ist  die  Zweite  Fortsetz- 
ung  von  Br.  Johann  Friederich  Rock's  Reise  und  Besuch  im  Jahr  1719, 
etc.    Gedruckt  im  Jahr  1785.     (The  36th  Collection— that  is,  the  Second 
Continuation  of  Brother  John  Frederick  Rock's  Journey  and  Visits  in  the 
year  1719.     Printed  in  the  year  1785.)    pp.  145. 

[This  is  one  of  the  more  ancient  journals  of  the  Inspirationists,  and  recounts 
the  visions  of  Rock,  one  of  their  early  prophets.  I  do  not  know  what  mystery 
lies  in  "B.  cum  D  !"] 

103.  Das  Liebes  und  Gedachtniszmahl  des  Leidens  und  Sterbens  unsers 
Herrn  und  Heilandes  Jesu  Christi,  etc.    (The  Supper  of  Love  and  Remem- 
brance of  the  Sufferings  and  Death  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ ; 
how  it  was  announced,  ordered,  and  celebrated  by  his  Word  and  Wit- 
ness in  four  parts,  at  Middle  and  Lower  Eben-Ezer,  in  the  year  1855. 
Eben-Ezer,  N.  Y.,  1859,  pp.  284.) 

[I  have  given  an  account  of  this  book  in  the  description  of  Amana. ] 

104.  Stirnmen  aus  Zion,  zum  Lobe  des  Allmachtigen  im  Geist  gesungen, 
von  Johann  Wilhelm  Petersen,  Dr.  (A.D.  1698).    (Voices  from  Zion,  sung 
in  the  Spirit  to  the  Praise  of  the  Almighty,  by  John  William  Petersen, 
D.D.)    Newly  printed  at  Eben-Ezer,  N.  Y.,  1851,  pp.  456. 

105.  Davidisches  Psalter  Spiel  der  Kinder  Zions,  etc.    (Psalms  after  the 
manner  of  David,  for  the  Children  of  Zion :  a  Collection  of  old  and  newly 


Bibliography.  431 


selected  Spiritual  Songs,  brought  together  for  the  Use  of  all  Souls  desirous 
of  Healing,  and  Sucklings  of  Wisdom ;  but  particularly  for  the  Congrega- 
tions of  the  Lord.)    Third  Edition,  Amana,  Iowa,  1871,  pp.  1285,  of  which 
111  are  music. 
[This  is  the  hymn-book  at  present  in  use  at  Amana.] 

106.  .T.  J.  J.     Erster  Beytrag  zur  Fortsetzung  der  Wahren  Inspiration's 
Gemeinschaft,  etc.    (First  Records  of  the  Continuation  of  the  True  Inspi- 
ration's Congregations.)     Biidingen,  1822. 

[This  volume  contains  the  earliest  utterances  of  Barbara  Heyneman,  the  present 
Spiritual  Head  of  Amana,  and  also  "  Four-and-twenty  Rules  of  True  Godliness," 
by  J.  A.  Gruber,  aud  "  One-and-twenty  Rules  for  the  Examination  of  our  Daily 
Lives,"  by  E.  L.  Gruber.] 

107.  Die  Schule  der  Weiszheit,  als  das  Hoch-Teutsche  ABC,  vor Schu- 
ler  und  Meister  in  Israel.     (The  School  of  Wisdom,  and  High-German 
A  B  C,  for  Scholars  and  Masters  in  Israel.)     1748,  pp.  128. 

108.  J.  J.  J.     Catechetischer  Unterricht  von  der  Lehre  des  Heils,  etc. 
(Catechism.)    Printed  at  Eben-Ezer,  1857,  and  at  Amana,  1872,  "for  the 
use  and  blessing  of  the  Inspiration's  Congregations." 

[There  are  two  volumes,  pp.  96  and  84.  The  first  for  youth,  the  second  for 
members  in  general.] 

109.  Der  Kleine  Kempis,  oder  Kurze  Spriiche  und  Gebete,  etc.     (The 
Little  Kempis,  or  Short  Sayings  and  Prayers,  from  the  Works  of  Thomas 
a  Kempis,  for  the  Edification  of  Children.     Eben-Ezer,  1856,  pp.  382. 

110.  Seelen  Schatz  der  Gott  Begierigen,  etc.      (Treasure  of  those  who 
desire  God ;  showing  how  a  man  should  die  to  sin,  hate  his  Adamic  life, 
deny  himself,  and  live  in  Christ,  in  order  that  he  may  attain  to  the  com- 
plete love  of  God  and  his  neighbor,  and  achieve  a  part  in  Everlasting 
Salvation.)     Eben-Ezer,  N.  Y.,  1 851,  pp.  243. 

111.  Lebenserfahrungen  von  Carl  G.  Koch.  Prediger  des  Evangeliums. 
(Experiences  of  Charles  G.  Koch,  Preacher  of  the  Gospel.)     Cleveland, 
Ohio,  1871,  pp.  411. 

[This  contains  curious  details  of  Count  Leon's  transactions  at  Economy,  and  of 
Keil,  the  head  of  the  Aurora  Community  in  Oregon.] 

112.  Hirten-Brief  an  die  Wahren  und  Achten  Freymaurer  Alten  Sys- 
tems.   Neue  Auflage,  5785.    (Episcopal  Letter  addressed  to  the  True  and 
Faithful  Freemasons  of  the  Ancient  System.    New  Edition,  5785.)    Print- 
ed at  Pittsburgh,  1855,  pp.  288. 

[This  is  a  mystical  work  much  prized  by  the  Harmonists.] 


43 2      Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States. 


113.  The  Harmony  Society  at  Economy,  Pennsylvania.     Founded  by 
George  Rapp,  A.D.  1805.    With  an  Appendix.    By  Aaron  Williams,  D.D., 
Pittsburgh,  1866,  pp.  182. 

114.  The  Bishop  Hill  Colony  Case.    Answer  of  the  Defendants.    Galva. 
111..  1868,  pp.  94. 

[Contains  accounts  of  the  Growth  and  Decay  of  the  Bishop  Hill  Community.] 

115.  The  Bishop  Hill  Colony  Case— Statement  of  the  Plaintiffs,  Eric  U. 
Norberg  and  others. 

116.  Nagra  Sanger,  Samt  Boner.     Forfatlade  af  Erik  Janson.     Galva, 
111.,  1857. 

[This  is  the  hymn-book  prepared  by  Eric  Janson  for  the  use  of  the  Bishop  Hill 
Commune.] 

117.  Constitution  der  Ikarischen  Gliter  Gemeinschaft,  etc.     (Constitu- 
tion of  the  Icarian  Commune,  unanimously  adopted  on  the  21st  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1850 ;  and,  after  revision,  again  adopted  4th  of  May,  1851.)     Nau- 
voo,  111.     Icarian  Printing-office,  August,  1844,  pp.  27. 

118.  Wenn  ich  $500,000  hatte !     (If  I  had  Half  a  Million  Dollars !)    By 
E.  Cabet,  President  of  the  Icarian  Commune.     Nauvoo,  111.,  November, 
1854. 


INDEX. 


INDEX. 


Administration,  at  Amana,  393  ;  Au- 
rora, 310  ;  Bishop  Hill,  347  ;  Cedar 
Vale,  354;  Economy,  393;  Icaria, 
338,  393 ;  Oneida,  277,  393 ;  Prairie 
Home,  377;  Shaker,  139, 171 ;  Zoar, 
106,  393. 

Agriculture,  excellent,  of  the  Commu- 
nists, 415. 

Alfred,  Shakers  at,  179. 

Amana  Society,  the,  26 ;  derivation  of, 
31;  population  of,  31;  industries  of,  31. 

Amiability,  a  communal  virtue,  416. 

Amusements,  400 ;  at  Amana,  42. 

Anaheim,  361;  plan  of,  362;  cultiva- 
tion of,  363. 

Ann  Lee.     (See  Mother  Ann.) 

Architecture,  communal,  400. 

Armenburg,  Inspirationists  gathered  at, 
28. 

Aurora,  305  ;  appearance  of  the  people 
of,  321. 


Baker,  Kapp's  successor,  85,  94. 

Baumeler,  Joseph,  101 ;  his  teaching, 
113. 

Bethel,  324. 

Bishop  Hill,  343  ;  settlement  made  at, 
344;  disorganization  at,  348;  divis- 
ion of  property  at,  349. 

Boissiere,  E.  V.,  letter  from,  376. 

Book-keeping,  communal,  397. 

Books  at  Bethel,  329. 

Brains  come  easily  to  the  top,  392. 

Business  management,  at  Amana,  34, 
37;  at  Oneida,  279;  among  the  Shak- 
ers, 149,  161. 

Business  statement,  397. 


Cabet,  Etienne,  333. 

Canterbury,  Shakers  at,  183. 
i  Cards  prohibited,  413. 

Catechism,  Amana,  44. 

Cedar  Vale,  353. 

Celibacy,  discountenanced,  388 ;  said  to 
be  healthful,  74,  160. 

Celibate  Communes,  389  ;  life,  404. 

Celibates,  the  Harmonists  become,  72. 

Ceremonies,  Aurora,  312;  horror  of,  at 
Oneida,  286  ;  no,  at  Oneida,  272. 

Character,  intellectual,  of  Communists, 
399 ;  of  members  at  Amana,  41 ;  of 
people  at  Anaheim,  365 ;  of  Oneida 
people,  288. 

Children,  at  Aurora,  314;  at  Oneida, 
281  ;  training  of,  413  ;  training  of, 
at  Amana,  59  ;  taught  manual  labor, 
414. 

Children's  houses,  Zoar,  108. 

Circular,  Oneida,  265. 

Clairvoyants,  243. 

Cleanliness,  400;  among  the  Shakers, 
136. 

Clothing  allowance,  Amana,  38 ;  Onei- 
da, 280. 

Clothing  distribution,  Bethel,  328. 

Clothing,  Economy,  89. 

Comfort,  contrivances  for,  152;  in  com- 
munes, 401. 

Communal  life,  advantages  of  the,  414. 

Commune,  economy  of  the,  414 ;  a  mu- 
tiny against  society,  408. 

Communes,  land  owned  by,  386 ;  barren 
lives  in,  416;  what  they  might  do; 
416 ;  wealth  of,  386  ;  origin  of,  387 ; 
number  of,  385  ;  needless  isolation  of, 
417 ;  which  have  failed,  407. 


436 


Index. 


Communism,  when  begun,  at  Zoar,  101  ; 

not  amateur  work,  417. 
Confession,  dialogue  on  Shaker,  225  ; 

of  sins,  128;  of  sins,  Amana,  54. 
Constitution    of   Harmonists,    81  ;     at 

Zoar,  105. 
Cooking-houses,  at  Amana,  32  ;  Bishop 

Hill,  346. 

Co-operative  plan  of  Anaheim,  364. 
Costume,   at  Amana,  35  ;    at  Oneida, 

282 ;  among  the  Shakers,  150. 
Covenant  hymn,  Shaker,  227. 
Criticism,  413. 
4<  Criticism,"  account  of  a,  290;  how 

used  at  Oneida,  289. 
"Criticism-cure,"  290,  295. 
Cup  of  Solemnity,  Shaker,  237. 
Cushman,  Miss  Charlotte,  251. 

D. 

Daily  life,  at  Economy,  88  ;  among  the 
Shakers,  139;  at  Zoar,  111 ;  Gruber's 
Rules  of,  50. 

Dances,  243. 

Debt,  hostility  to,  403. 

Debts,  to  be  avoided,  412. 

Defalcation  among  the  Shakers,  180, 
182,  189,  191,  193,  202. 

Devil's  Visitation,  242. 

Divine  Book  of  Wisdom,  248. 

Dram-shops,  prevention  of,  368. 

Dress,  simplicity  of,  398. 

Dullness  of  communal  life,  405. 

"Dutch  town, "305. 

E. 

Kben-Ezers  (see  also  Amana),  26 ;  re- 
move to  Iowa,  29,  30. 

Economy,  63 ;  neatness  of,  64 ;  hotel 
at,  65  ;  in  1826,  78  ;  tramps  at,  66. 

Education  at  Amana,  34. 

Employment,  at  Amana,  40 ;  at  Auro- 
ra, 311;  at  Cedar  Vale,  353;  at 
Economy,  88  ;  at  Oneida,  263,  280  ; 
Shaker,  180,  182,  184,  188,  190,  192, 
194,  195,  196,  198,  201,  20r>,  206, 
208,  213.  (See  also  Industries.) 

Enfield  (Conn.),  Shakers  at,  190;  (N. 
H.),  Shakers  at,  187. 


Enthusiasts,  communists  not,  390. 

Equality,  as  a  bond,  394 ;  of  living, 
411. 

Evans,  F.  W.,  appearance  of,  153  ;  con- 
versation of,  158 ;  on  cleanliness,  165. 

Evening  meetings  at  Oneida,  289. 

F. 

Faith-cures,  272. 

Family,  a  Shaker,  136. 

Family  life  at  Aurora,  309  ;  in  Com- 
munes, 388 ;  at  Oneida,  278. 

Fanatics,  387. 

Farmers  benefited  by  neighboring  com- 
munes, 391. 

Fences,  no,  at  Vineland,  368. 

Food,  distribution  of.  at  Amana,  33  ;  at 
Aurora,  315 ;  among  the  Shakers, 
141. 

Funeral,  a  Shaker,  156. 

G. 

German  communists,  396 ;  peasants,  41 . 
Germans  settle  Anaheim,  362. 
Gloucester,  Shakers  at,  181. 
"Gospel  Virtues,"  set  forth  in  rhymes, 

222. 

Groveland,  Shakers  at,  198. 
Grumblers,  410. 

H. 

Hansen,  projector  of  Anaheim,  362. 

Harmonists,  their  appearance,  68. 

Harmony,  means  for  securing,  405. 

Harmony,  New,  Ind.,  74. 

Harmony,  Pa.,  71. 

Harmony  Society,  formed,  71 ;  articles 

of  association  of,  81. 
Harvard,  Shakers  at,  191. 
Henrici,  J.,  85,  94. 
Heyneman,   Barbara,  her   origin,   27; 

falls  into  disgrace,  27. 
' '  Hoggish  Nature, "  rhymes  against,  220. 
Holidays,  Amana,  54. 
Honesty  in  communes,  401. 
Household   economy   of  the    Shakers, 

187. 

Housekeeping,  Economy,  89. 
Hymnology,  Amana,  57. 


Index. 


437 


Hymns,  Oneida,  299;  Shaker,  121, 
231. 

L 

Icarians,  the,  333. 

Industries,  at  Amana,  31 ;  at  Aurora, 
311 ;  at  Bethel,  324 ;  at  Bishop  Hill, 
344  ;  at  Icaria,  336  ;  at  Oneida,  262 ; 
of  the  Communes,  390.  (See  also 
Employments.) 

Inquisition,  religious,  at  Amana,  54. 

Inspiration,  among  the  Shakers,  214, 
251 ;  definition  of,  43 ;  members  re- 
ceived by,  39  ;  utterances,  49. 

Inspiration  Society,  origin  of,  27. 

Inspirationists,  the,  26  ;  settle  near 
Buffalo,  29. 

Integrity  of  administration  at  Econo- 
my, 93. 

Inventive  skill  at  Oneida,  286. 


J. 


Janson,  Eric,  344. 
Jerks,  the,  209. 
Jokes,  pious,  266. 

K. 
Keil,  Dr.,  306;    appearance  of,  318; 

founds  Bethel,  307 ;  goes  to  Oregon, 

308;.  his  house,  317. 
Kentucky  revival,  the,  131 ;  scenes  at, 

209. 
Kindness  to  laborers,  401. 


Labor,  hours  of,  412. 

Land  tenure  at  Bethel,  326. 

Landis,  Charles  K.,  366;  his  account 
of  Vineland,  370. 

Laundries,  401 . 

Lawsuits  against  the  Harmonists,  93. 

Lazy  people,  none,  395. 

Leaders,  value  of  character  in,  110. 

Lenz,  Jonathan,  94. 

Leon,  Count  de,  79 ;  death  of,  80. 

Libraries,  400. 

Life,  manner  of,  at  Bethel,  325. 

Literature,  Amana,  48,  58 ;  Perfection- 
ist, 264 ;  Shaker,  250. 

Local-option  law,  good  effect  of,  373. 


Longevity,  in  communes,  402  ;  Shaker, 
181,  183,  184,  189,  197,  199,  202, 
211,  214.  (See  also  Old  Age.) 

Lord's  Supper,  the,  at  Amana,  55. 


Manufactures  at  Harmony,  72. 

Marching-songs,  Shaker,  229. 

Marriage,  age  for,  403 ;  at  Amana,  36  ; 
at  early  age,  Bethel,  329 ;  complex, 
275 ;  not  helpful  in  communism, 
108 ;  tends  to  worldliness,  36 ;  when 
allowed  at  Zoar,  102. 

Meal-hours,  at  Amana,  33 ;  at  Oneida, 
282;  among  the  Shakers,  140. 

Mechanical  skill  in  communes,  392. 

Meetings,  evening,  Amana,  52;  at  Ica- 
ria, 338 ;  evening,  at  Oneida,  299  ;  re- 
ligious, Amana,  53. 

Membership,  conditions  of,  Amana,  40 ; 
at  Aurora,  311 ;  at  Oneida,  287 ;  con- 
dition of  among  the  Shakers,  145. 

Metz,  Christian,  27 ;  goes  to  America, 
28 ;  his  historical  description,  27. 

Ministry,  Shaker,  137. 

Miraculous  cures,  127. 

Moses,  323,  411. 

Mother  Ann,  119,  125  ;  dies,  128  ;  emi- 
grates to  the  United  States,  126 :  her 
appearance,  129;  her  sayings,  129; 
hymns  to,  230 ;  performs  miracles, 
127;  on  confession,  128.  (See  also 
Ann  Lee.) 

Mount  Lebanon,  151, 195. 

N. 

Nativity  of  Amana  people,  39. 
Nauvoo,  the  Icarians  at,  334. 
New  Harmony,  75. 
New  Lebanon,  127. 
Niskeyuna,  Shakers  at,  126. 
North  Union,  Shakers  at,  204. 
Noyes,  J.  H.,  259 ;  on  criticism,  289. 
Nurse-shops,  402. 

0. 

Old  age,  at  Amana,  43 ;  at  Economy, 
90 ;  at  Zoar,  112;  provisions  for,  394. 
Oneida,  260. 


438 


Index. 


Orderly  life,  395. 

Orders,    social,   Amana,   51  ;     Shaker, 

135. 

Original  sin,  its  nature,  119. 
Owen  buys  New  Harmony,  76. 


Pecuniary  success,  Harmony,  75,  81. 

Perfectionists,  the,  257. 

Pet  animals  forbidden,  166. 

Pleasant  Hill,  Shakers  at,  211. 

Police  at  Vineland,  low  cost  of,  373. 

Poor,  feeding  the,  65. 

Poor  tax,  small,  at  Vineland,  373. 

Population,  Amana,  31. 

Pork,  believed  to  cause  bilious  fevers, 

197;  believed  to  cause  cancer,  180. 
Prairie  Home,  375  ;   location  of,  382 ; 

singular  plan  of  life  at,  377. 
Prayer-houses  at  Amana,  32. 
Precautions  in  regard  to  sexes,  404. 
Primitive  Church,  the,  409. 
Private  incomes  at  Aurora,  319. 
Progressive  Community,  the,  354. 
Propagation,  scientific,  so-called,  276. 
Property  at  Aurora,  312. 
Property  register  at  Oneida,  260. 


Quakers,  charitable  to  Zoarites,   100 ; 
visit  the  Inspirationists,  27. 


liapp,  Frederick,  78,  84;  Georger 
founder  of  Economy,  69,  88,  90; 
appearance  and  character  of,  91 ;  his 
doctrines,  69  ;  sails  for  Baltimore, 
70  ;  on  riches,  76 ;  Miss  Gertrude, 
68,  72. 

Religious  faith,  at  Aurora,  309  ;  at  Bish- 
op Hill,  346;  at  Economy,  85;  at 
Icaria,338;  at  Oneida,  268  ;  Shaker, 
132;  atZoar,  102. 

Religious  meetings,  400 ;  at  Amana,  51 ; 
at  Economy,  87;  among  the  Shakers, 
142;  atZoar,  111. 

Religious  observances,  387. 

Roads,  good,  412. 

Rock,  John  Frederick,  27. 


Roll  and  Book,  the  Sacred,  245. 
Russian  materialists,  354. 

S. 

Satan  personates  Adam,  122. 

Scandal,  410. 

School,  at  Amana,  34 ;  at  Icaria,  339  : 
at  Oneida,  284  ;  at  Zoar,  109. 

Schools,  399. 

Separatists,  69,  99  ;  Swedish,  343. 

Servants,  inadmissible,  412 ;  none  in  a 
commune,  394. 

Sex,  no,  in  heaven,  108. 

Sexes,  kept  apart,  Amana,  59  ;  rules  for 
keeping  apart  the,  176. 

Sexual  relation,  unnatural,  388. 

Silkville,  375 ;  location  of,  382. 

Sinner,  repentance  of  a,  in  verse,  223. 

Shaker  and  Shakeress,  The,  255. 

Shakers,  colored,  society  of,  at  Philadel- 
phia, 198 ;  Northern  and  Southern, 
396;  number  of  communes  of,  11 7;  sum- 
mary of  Shaker  faith,  118;  when  found- 
ed, 1 17,  1 1 8 ;  who  make  the  best,  158 : 
societies,  Western,  when  formed,  132. 

Shaking  Quakers,  119. 

Shirley,  Shakers  at,  193. 

Shops,  Shaker,  136. 

Slavery,  Shakers  opposed  to,  210. 

"  Slug  "  exposed,  216. 

Social  Freedom  Commune,  357. 

South  Union,  Shakers  at,  206. 

Spirit  world,  Shaker  relations  to  the,  232. 

Spiritual  manifestations,  Shaker,  157. 

Spiritualism,  among  the  Shakers,  232, 
236,  240,  250. 

Spirituous  liquors,  Shakerruleabout,216. 

Steamboat  Self-denial,  verses  on  the,  225. 

Steeple  houses,  228. 

Subordination  in  communal  life,  392. 

Success,  pecuniary,  at  Aurora,  320. 

Sunday,  among  the  Shakers,  1 73 ;  at 
Oneida,  287. 

Systematized  life,  395. 

T. 

Table  Monitor,  the,  169. 
Temperance,  402;    at  Vineland,   373; 
hymn,  Shaker,  215. 


Index. 


439 


Texas,  Cabet's  attempt  there,  334. 
Tobacco  forbidden,  166,  413. 
Toil  in  communes  not  severe,  400. 
Tongues,  strange,  24."). 
Trades,  teaching,  399. 

U. 

Unanimous  consent,  392. 

Unitary  home,  411. 

Union  Village,  Shakers  at,  200. 


Vineland,  366  ;  plan  of  settling,  367. 
Vineyards,  Anaheim,  363. 


War,  Shaker  losses  in  the,  210. 
WaterYliet  (N.  Y.),  Shakers  at,   126, 

196 ;  (Ohio),  Shakers  at,  206. 
Wealth,  not  desired,  403:    of  Oneida 

Communists,  261. 


Wedding,  a,  at  Aurora,  312 ;  at  Zoar. 
108. 

Wedding-day  at  Amana,  36. 

Whitewater,  Ohio,  Shakers  at,  206. 

Whittaker,  Elder  James,  130. 

Willamette  Valley,  the,  308. 

Winter  Shakers,  395. 

Women,  allowance  for  dress  of,  at  Onei- 
da, 283 ;  among  the  Shakers,  165 ;  at 
Amana,  35 ;  a  magical  fire,  51 ;  dress 
of,  398 ;  in  communes,  392 ;  rights  of. 
412;  vote  in  Zoar,  106;  will  talk,  410. 

Woolen  factories,  42. 

Wright,  Lucy,  130. 

Y. 

Year-books,  Inspirationist,  48. 


Zoar,  99 ;  character  of  people,  1 10 ;  origin 
of  people,  109;  purchase  of  land  at,  101. 


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addition  to  the  Notes  on  Chapter  LXXVL,  which  correct  the  errors  of  the 
original  work  concerning  the  United  States,  a  copious  Analytical  Index  has  been 
appended  to  this  American  edition.]  SECOND  SERIES  :  From  the  Fall  of  Napoleon, 
in  1S15,  to  the  Accession  of  Louis  Napoleon,  in  1852.  8  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $16  00. 

BALDWIN'S  PRE-HISTORIC  NATIONS.  Pre-Historic  Nations ;  or,  Inquiries  con- 
cerning some  of  the  Great  Peoples  and  Civilizations  of  Antiquity,  and  their 
Probable  Relation  to  a  still  Older  Civilization  of  the  Ethiopians  or  Cushites  of 
Arabia.  By  JOHN  D.  BALDWIN,  Member  of  the  American  Oriental  Society. 
12mo,  Cloth,  $1  75. 

GARTH'S  NORTH  AND  CENTRAL  AFRICA.  Travels  and  Discoveries  in  North 
and  Central  Africa:  being  a  Journal  of  an  Expedition  undertaken  under  the 
Auspices  of  H.  B.  M.'s  Government,  in  the  Years  1S49-1S55.  By  HENRY  BARTH, 
Ph.D.,  D.C.L.  Illustrated.  3  vols.,  8yo,  Cloth,  $12  00. 

HENRY  WARD  BEECHER'S  SERMONS.  Sermons  by  HENRY  WARD  BEEOUER, 
Plymouth  Church,  Brooklyn.  Selected  from  Published  and  Unpublished  Dis- 
courses, and  Revised  by  the'ir  Author.  With  Steel  Portrait.  Complete  in  2  vols.. 
Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

LYMAN  BEECHER'S  AUTOBIOGRAPHY,  &c.  Autobiography,  Correspondence, 
&c.,  of  Lyman  Beecher,  D.D.  Edited  by  his  Son,  CHARLES  BEEOHEB.  With  Three 
Steel  Portraits,  and  Engravings  on  Wood.  In  2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

BOSWELL'S  JOHNSON.  The  Life  of  Samuel  Johnson,  LL.D.  Including  a  Journej 
to  the  Hebrides.  By  JAMES  BOSWELL,  Esq.  A  New  Edition,  with  numerous 
Additions  and  Notes.  By  JOHN  WILSON  CHOKER,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.  Portrait  of 
Boswell.  2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $4  00. 


4      Harper  6°  Brothers'  Valuable  and  Interesting  Works. 

DRAPER'S  CIVIL  WAR.  History  of  the  American  Civil  War.  By  JOHN  W.  DBA- 
PER,  M.L).,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  arid  Physiology  in  the  University  of 
New  York.  In  Three  Vols.  8vo,  Cloth,  $3  50  per  vol. 

DRAPER'S  INTELLECTUAL  DEVELOPMENT  OF  EUROPE.  A  History  of  the 
Intellectual  Development  of  Europe.  By  JOHN  W.  DRAPER,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  Profess- 
or of  Chemistry  and  Physiology  in  the  University  of  New  York.  8vo,  Cloth,  $5  00, 

DRAPER'S  AMERICAN  CIVIL  POLICY.  Thoughts  on  the  Future  Civil  Policy  of 
America.  By  JOHN  W.  DRAPER,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Physiol- 
ogy in  the  University  of  New  York.  Crown  8vo,  Cloth,  $2  50. 

DU  CHAILLU'S  AFRICA.  Explorations  and  Adventures  in  Equatorial  Africa  with 
Accounts  of  the  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  People,  and  of  the  Chase  of  the  Go- 
rilla, the  Crocodile,  Leopard,  Elephant,  Hippopotamus,  and  other  Animals.  Bj 
PAUL  11.  DC  CHAILLU.  Numerous  Illustrations.  8vo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

BELLOWS'S  OLD  WORLD.  The  Old  World  in  its  New  Face :  Impressions  of  Eu- 
rope in  1867-1868.  By  HENBY  W.  BELLOWS.  2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

BRODHEAD'S  HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK.  History  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
By  JOHN  ROMEYN  BBODHEAD.  1609-1691.  2  vols.  8vo,  Cloth,  $3  00  per  vol. 

BROUGHAM'S  AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  Life  and  Times  of  HENRY,  LORD  BROUGHAM. 
Written  by  Himself.  In  Three  Volumes.  12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00  per  vol. 

BULWER'S  PROSE  WORKS.     Miscellaneous  Prose  Works  of  Edward  Bulwer, 

Lord  Lytton.    2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 
BULWER'S  HORACE.    The  Odes  and  Epodes  of  Horace.    A  Metrical  Translation 

into  English.    With  Introduction  and  Commentaries.    By  LORD  LYTTON.    With 

Latin  Text  from  the  Editions  of  Orelli,  Macleane,  and  Yonge.    12mo,  Cloth,  $1  75. 
BULWER'S  KING  ARTHUR.    A  Poem.    By  EARL  LYTTON.    New  Edition.    12mo, 

Cloth,  $1  75. 

BURNS'S  LIFE  AND  WORKS.  The  Life  and  Works  of  Robert  Burns.  Edited 
by  ROBERT  CHAMBERS.  4  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $6  00. 

REINDEER,  DOGS,  AND  SNOW-SHOES.  A  Journal  of  Siberian  Travel  and  Ex- 
plorations made  in  the  Years  1865-'67.  By  RICHARD  J.  BUSH,  late  of  the  Russo- 
American  Telegraph  Expedition.  Illustrated.  Crown  8vo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 

CARLYLE'S  FREDERICK  THE  GREAT.  History  of  Friedrich  II.,  called  Frederick 
the  Great.  By  THOMAS  CABLYLE.  Portraits,  Maps,  Plans.  &c.  6  vols.,  12mo, 
Cloth,  $12  00. 

CARLYLE'S  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  History  of  the  French  Revolution.  Newly, 
Revised  by  the  Author,  with  Index,  &c.  2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

CARLYLE'S  OLIVER  CROMWELL.  Letters  and  Speeches  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 
With  Elucidations  and  Connecting  Narrative.  2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

CHALMERS'S  POSTHUMOUS  WORKS.  The  Posthumous  Works  of  Dr.  Chalmers. 
Edited  by  his  Sou-in-Law,  Rev.  WILLIAM  HANNA,  LL.D.  Complete  in  9  vols., 
12mo,  Cloth,  $13  50. 

COLERIDGE'S  COMPLETE  WORKS.  The  Complete  Works  of  Samuel  Taylor 
Coleridge.  With  an  Introductory  Essay  upon  his  Philosophical  and  Theological 
Opinions.  Edited  by  Professor  SHEDD.  Complete  in  Seven  Vols.  With  a  fine 
Portrait.  Small  8vo,  Cloth,  $10  50. 

DOOLITTLE'S  CHINA.  Social  Life  of  the  Chinese :  with  some  Account  of  their  Re- 
ligious, Governmental,  Educational,  and  Business  Customs  and  Opinions.  With 
special  but  not  exclusive  Reference  to  Fuhchau.  By  Rev.  JUSTUS  DOOLITTLK, 
Fourteen  Years  Member  of  the  Fuhchau  Mission  of  the  American  Board.  Illus- 
trated with  more  than  150  characteristic  Engravings  on  Wood.  2  vols.,  12mo, 
Cloth,  $5  00. 

GIBBON'S  ROME.  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  By  ED- 
WARD GIBBON.  With  Notes  by  Rev.  H.  H.  MILMAN  and  M.  GUIZOT.  A  new  cheap 
Edition.  To  which  is  added  a  complete  Index  of  the  whole  Work,  and  a  Portrait 
of  the  Author.  6  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $9  00. 

HAZEN'S  SCHOOL  AND  ARMY  IN  GERMANY  AND  FRANCE.  The  School 
and  the  Army  in  Germany  and  France,  with  a  Diary  of  Siege  Life  at  Versailles. 
By  Brevet  Major-General  W.  B.  HAZEN,  U.S.A.,  Colonel  Sixth  Infantry.  Crowe 
8vo,  Cloth,  f 2  50. 


Harper  6-  Brothers'  Valuable  and  Interesting  Works.      5 

HARPER'S  NEW  CLASSICAL  LIBRARY.    Literal  Translations. 

The  following  Volumes  are  now  ready.    Portraits.    12mo,  Cloth,  $1  50  each. 

CfSAR.  —  VIEGIL.  —  SALLUST.  —  HORACE.—  CICERO'S  ORATIONS.— CICERO'S  OFFICES? 

<fec. — CICERO  ON  ORATORY  AND  ORATORS. — TACITCS  (2  vols.).  —  TERENCE 

SOPIIOCLES. — JUVENAL. — XENOPHON. —  HOMER'S  ILIAD. — HOMEE'S  ODYSSEY. — 
HERODOTUS.— DEMOSTHENES.— THUCYDIDKS.— AESCHYLUS.— EURIPIDES  (2  vols.). 
— LIVY  (2  vols.). 

DA  VIS'S  CARTHAGE.  Carthage  and  her  Remains :  being  an  Account  of  the  Exca- 
vations and  Researches  on  the  Site  of  the  Phoenician  Metropolis  in  Africa  and  other 
adjacent  Places.  Conducted  under  the  Auspices  of  Her  Majesty's  Government. 
By  Dr.  DAVIS,  F.R.G.S.  Profusely  Illustrated  with  Maps,  Woodcuts,  Chromo- 
Lithographs3  &c.  8vo,  Cloth,  $4  00. 

EDGE  WORTH'S  (Miss)  NOVELS.   With  Engravings.    10  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $15  00. 
GROTE'S  HISTORY  OF  GREECE.    12  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $18  00. 

HELPS'S  SPANISH  CONQUEST.  The  Spanish  Conquest  in  America,  and  its  Rela- 
tion to  the  History  of  Slavery  and  to  the  Government  of  Colonies.  By  ARTHUR 
HELPS.  4  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $6  00. 

~3ALE'S  (MRS.)  WOMAN'S  RECORD.  Woman's  Record ;  or,  Biographical  Sketches 
of  all  Distinguished  Women,  from  the  Creation  to  the  Present  Time.  Arranged 
in  Four  Eras,  with  Selections  from  Female  Writers  of  each  Era.  By  Mrs.  SARAH 
JOSEPHA  HALE.  Illustrated  with  more  than  2oO  Portraits.  8vo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

HALL'S  ARCTIC  RESEARCHES.  Arctic  Researches  and  Life  amongthe  Esqui- 
maux :  being  the  Narrative  of  an  Expedition  in  Search  of  Sir  John  Franklin,  in 
the  Years  1SGO.  1861,  and  1862.  By  CHARLES  FRANCIS  HALL.  With  Maps  and  100 
Illustrations.  The  Illustrations  are  from  Original  Drawings  by  Charles  Parsons, 
Henry  L.  Stephens,  Solomon  Eytinge,  W.  S.  L.  Jewett,  and  Granville  Perkins, 
after  Sketches  by  Captain  Hall.  8vo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

HALLAM'S  CONSTITUTIONAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND,  from  the  Accession  of 
Henry  VIL  to  the  Death  of  George  H.  8vo,  Clo*,  $2  00. 

HALLAM'S  LITERATURE.  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  Europe  during  the 
Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  and  Seventeenth  Centuries.  By  HENRY  HALLAM.  2  vols., 
8vo,  Cloth,  $4  00. 

HALLAM'S  MIDDLE  AGES.  State  of  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages.  By  HENRY 
HALLAM.  Svo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

HILDRETH'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  FIRST  SERIES  :  From  the 
First  Settlement  of  the  Country  to  the  Adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution. 
SECOND  SERIES  :  From  the  Adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  to  the  End  of 
the  Sixteenth  Congress.  6  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $18  00. 

HUME'S  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  History  of  England,  from  the  Invasion  of  Ju- 
lius Caesar  to  the  Abdication  of  James  II.,  16SS.  By  DAVID  HUME.  A  new  Edi- 
tion, with  the  Author's  last  Corrections  and  Improvements.  To  which  is  Prefix- 
ed a  short  Account  of  his  Life,  written  by  Himself.  With  a  Portrait  of  the  Au- 
thor. 6  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $9  00. 

JAY'S  WORKS.  Complete  Works  of  Rev.  William  Jay :  comprising  his  Sermons, 
Family  Discourses,  Morning  and  Evening  Exercises  for  every  Day  in  the  Year, 
Family  Prayers,  &c.  Author's  enlarged  Edition,  revised.  3  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth, 
$600. 

JEFFERSON'S  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  The  Domestic  Life  of  Thomas  Jefferson :  com- 
piled from  Family  Letters  and  Reminiscences  by  his  Great-Grauddansrhter, 
SARA ii  N.  RANDOLPH.  With  Illustrations.  Crown  Svo,  Illuminated  Cloth,  Bev- 
eled Edges,  $2  50. 

JOHNSON'S  COMPLETE  WORKS.  The  Works  of  Samuel  Johnson,  LL.D.  With 
an  Essay  on  his  Life  and  Genius,  by  ARTHUR  MUEPHY,  Esq.  Portrait  of  Johnson. 
2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $4  00. 

KINGLAKE'S  CRIMEAN  WAR,  The  Invasion  of  the  Crimea,  and  an  Account  of 
its  Proeress  down  to  the  Death  of  Lord  Raglan.  By  ALEXANDER  WILLIAM  Ktso- 
LAKE.  With  Maps  and  Plans.  Two  Vols.  ready.  12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00  per  vol. 

KIXGSLEY'S  WEST  INDIES.  At  Last:  A  Christmas  in  the  West  Indies.  By 
CHARLES  KINGSLEY.  Illustrated.  12mo,  Cloth,  $1  50. 


6      Harper  6°  Brothers'  Valuable  and  Interesting  Works. 

KRUMMACHEK'S  DAVID,  KING  OF  ISRAEL.  David,  the  King  of  Israel :  a  Por- 
trait drawn  from  Bible  History  and  the  Book  of  Psalms.  By  FREDERICK  WILLIAM 
KKUMMAOIIKK,  D.D.,  Author  of  "Elijah  the  Tishbite,"  &c.  Translated  under  the 
express  Sanction  of  the  Author  by  the  Rev.  M.  G.  E ASTON,  M.A.  With  a  Letter 
from  Dr.  Krummacher  to  his  American  Readers,  and  a  Portrait.  12mo,  Cloth, 
$175. 

LAMB'S  COMPLETE  WORKS.  The  Works  of  Charles  Lamb.  Comprising  his  Let- 
ters, Poems,  Essays  of  Elia,  Essays  upon  Shakspeare,  Hogarth,  &c.,  and  a  Sketch 
of  his  Life,  with  the  Final  Memorials,  by  T.  NOON  TALFOUEI>.  Portrait.  2  vols., 
12mo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 

LIVINGSTONE'S  SOUTH  AFRICA.  Missionary  Travels  and  Researches  in  South 
Africa ;  including  a  Sketch  of  Sixteen  Years'  Residence  in  the  Interior  of  Africa, 
and  a  Journey  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  Loando  on  the  West  Coast ;  thence 
across  the  Continent,  down  the  River  Zambesi,  to  the  Eastern  Ocean.  By  DAVII> 
LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.  With  Portrait,  Maps  by  Arrowsmith,  and  numerous 
Illustrations.  Svo,  Cloth,  $4  50. 

LIVINGSTONES'  ZAMBESI.  Narrative  of  an  Expedition  to  the  Zambesi  and  its 
Tributaries,  aud  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Lakes  Shirwa  and  Nyassa.  1858-1864. 
By  DAVID  and  CIIAB  L.K&,  LIVINGSTONE.  With  Map  and  Illustrations.  Svo,  Cloth, 
$500. 

M'CLINTOCK  &  STRONG'S  CYCLOPAEDIA.  Cyclopedia  of  Biblical,  Theological, 
and  Ecclesiastical  Literature.  .  Prepared  by  the  Rev.  JOHN  M'CLINTOCK,  D.D., 
and  JAMES  STRONG,  S.T.D.  5  vols.  now  ready.  Royal  Svo.  Price  per  vol.,  Cloth, 
$5  00 ;  Sheep,  $6  00 ;  Half  Morocco,  $S  00. 

MARCY'S  ARMY  LIFE  ON  THE  BORDER.  Thirty  Years  of  Army  Life  on  the 
Border.  Comprising  Descriptions  of  the  Indian  Nomads  of  the  Plains ;  Explo- 
rations of  New  Territory;  a  Trip  across  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  the  Winter; 
Descriptions  of  the  Habits  of  Different  Animals  found  in  the  West,  and  the  Meth- 
ods of  Hunting  them ;  with  Incidents  in  the  Life  of  Different  Frontier  Men,  &c., 
&c.  By  Brevet  Brigadier-General  R.  B.  MARCY,  U.S.A.,  Author  of  "  The  Prairie 
Traveller."  With  numerous  Illustrations.  Svo,  Cloth,  Beveled  Edges,  $3  00. 

MACAULAY'S  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  The  History  of  England  from  the  Ac- 
cession of  James  II.  By  THOMAS  BABINGTON  MACATJLAY.  With  an  Original  Por- 
trait of  the  Author.  5  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $10  00 ;  12mo,  Cloth,  $7  50. 

MOSHEIM'S  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY,  Ancient  and  Modern ;  in  which  the 
Rise,  Progress,  and  Variation  of  Church  Power  are  considered  in  their  Connec- 
tion with  the  State  of  Learning  and  Philosophy,  and  the  Political  History  of  Eu- 
rope during  that  Period.  Translated,  with  Notes,  &c.,  by  A.  MACLAINE,  D.D. 
A  new  Edition,  continued  to  1826,  by  C.  COOTE,  LL.D.  2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $4  00. 

NEVIUS'S  CHINA.  China  and  the  Chinese:  a  General  Description  of  the  Country 
and  its  Inhabitants ;  its  Civilization  and  Form  of  Government ;  its  Religious  and 
Social  Institutions ;  its  Intercourse  with  other  Nations ;  and  its  Present  Condition 
and  Prospects.  By  the  Rev.  JOHN  L.  NEVIUS,  Ten  Years  a  Missionary  in  China. 
With  a  Map  and  Illustrations.  12mo,  Cloth,  $1  75. 

THE  DESERT  OF  THE  EXODUS.  Journeys  on  Foot  in  the  Wilderness  of  the 
Forty  Years'  Wanderings ;  undertaken  in  connection  with  the  Ordnance  Survey 
of  Sinai  and  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund.  By  E.  H.  PALMER,  M.A.,  Lord 
Almoner's  Professor  of  Arabic,  and  Fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge, 
With  Maps  and  numerous  Illustrations  from  Photographs  and  Drawings  taken 
on  the  spot  by  the  Sinai  Survey  Expedition  and  C.  F.  Tyrwhitt  Drake.  Crown 
Svo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 

OLIPHANT'S  CHINA  AND  JAPAN.  Narrative  of  the  Earl  of  Elgin's  Mission  to 
China  and  Japan,  in  the  Years  1857,  '58,  '59.  By  LAURENCE  OLIF-HANT,  Private 
Secretary  to  Lord  Elgin.  Illustrations.  Svo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

OLIPHANT'S  (MRS.)  LIFE  OF  EDWARD  IRVING.  The  Life  of  Edward  Irving, 
Minister  of  the  National  Scotch  Church,  London.  Illustrated  by  his  Journals  and 
Correspondence.  By  Mrs.  OLIPHANT.  Portrait.  Svo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

RAWLINSON'S  MANUAL  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY.  A  Manual  of  Ancient  His- 
tory, from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Fall  of  the  Western  Empire.  Comprising 
the  History  of  Chaldaea,  Assyria,  Media,  Babylonia,  Lydia,  Phoenicia,  Syria,  Ju- 
d«ea,  Egypt,  Carthage,  Persia,  Greece,  Macedonia,  Parthia,  and  Rome.  By 
GKORGB  RAWLINSON,  M.A.,  Camden  Professor  of  Ancient  History  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Oxford.  12mo,  Cloth,  $2  50. 


Harper  6°  Brothers'  Valuable  and  Interesting  Works.       7 

RECLUS'S  THE  EARTH.  The  Earth :  a  Descriptive  History  of  the  Phenomena 
and  Life  of  the  Globe.  By  EUSEE  REOLCS.  Translated  by  the  late  B.  B.  Wood- 
ward, and  Edited  by  Henry  Woodward.  With  234  Maps  and  Illustrations,  and 
23  Page  Maps  printed  in  Colors.  8vo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

RECLUS'S  OCEAN.  The  Ocean,  Atmosphere,  and  Life.  Being  the  Second  Series 
of  a  Descriptive  History  of  the  Life  of  the  Globe.  By  E~LIB£K  RF.CLUS.  Pro- 
fusely Illustrated  with  250  Maps  or  Figures,  and  27  Maps  printed  in  Colors. 
8vo,  Cloth,  $6  00. 

SHAKSPEARE.  The  Dramatic  Works  of  William  Shakspeare,  with  the  Correc- 
tions and  Illustrations  of  Dr.  JOIINSON  G.  STEEVENS,  and  others.  Revised  by 
ISAAC  REED.  Engravings.  6  vols.,  Royal  12mo,  Cloth,  $9  00. 

SMILES'S  LIFE  OF  THE  STEPHENSONS.  The  Life  of  George  Stephenson,  and 
of  his  Sou,  Robert  Stephensou  ;  comprising,  also,  a  History  of  the  Invention 
and  Introduction  of  the  Railway  Locomotive.  By  SAMUEL  SMILES.  With  Steel 
Portraits  and  numerous  Illustrations.  8vo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 

SMILES'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS.  The  Huguenots :  their  Settlements, 
Churches,  and  Industries  in  England  and  Ireland.  By  SAMUEL  SMILES.  With  an 
Appendix  relating  to  the  Huguenots  in  America.  Crown  8vo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

SPEKE'S  AFRICA.  Journal  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Source  of  the  Nile.  By  Cap- 
tain JOHN  HANNING  SPEKE.  With  Maps  and  Portraits  and  numerous  Illustra- 
tions, chiefly  from  Drawings  by  Captain  GRANT.  Svo,  Cloth,  uniform  with  Liv- 
ingstoue,  Barth,  Burton,  &c.,  $4  00. 

STRICKLAND'S  (Miss)  QUEENS  OF  SCOTLAND.  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  Scot- 
land and  English  Princesses  connected  with  the  Regal  Succession  of  Great 
Britain.  By  AGNES  STRICKLAND.  8  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $1200. 

THE  STUDENT'S  SERIES. 

France.    Engravings.    12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

Gibbon.    Engravings.    12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

Greece.    Engravings.    12mo,  Cloth,  |2  00. 

Hume.    Engravings.    12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

Rome.    By'Liddell.    Engravings.    12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

Old  Testament  History.     Engravings.     12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

New  Testament  History.    Engravings.    12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

Strickland's  Queens  of  England.    Abridged.    Engravings.    12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

Ancient  History  of  the  East.    12mo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

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